Two Years Till Operation: Surrey City Centre Site of Surrey's First DE System
December 28, 2011
Title: City Centre chosen to be the Site of Surrey's First DES
Author: Ted Colley Newspaper: Surrey Now Date: December 28, 2011
SURREY - A central geo-thermal energy distribution system will be operating in Surrey's City Centre within two years. The city intends to establish a municipally owned district energy utility to supply heating, cooling and hot water to high-density new construction in the town centre by 2013. That's when the new city hall, the first customer of the utility, is due to open.
"We will have to be up and running when it's due for completion in the latter half of 2013," said city utilities manager, Jeff Arason. A central geo-thermal plant would be built and the energy piped from there. "The city would install the distribution system within the road right-of-way, just like water and sewer," Arason said.
New buildings, like the city hall and nearby library, could tap into the system and could be heated and cooled through radiators or a hot-water system installed in the floors. Private high-density buildings could also connect to the system. Geo-thermal systems offer lower energy costs and reduced greenhouse gas emissions by eliminating individual furnace and air conditioning installations in each building. "City Centre has been chosen to be the first district energy system because of its high-density," Arason said.
Similar systems are in use in Vancouver, North Vancouver and Victoria and served as study models for Surrey's engineers. Vancouver's is owned and operated by the city, North Vancouver's is city-owned and privately operated, while Victoria's is owned and run by the private sector. Arason said Surrey has yet to decide which model will be used here.
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