Durham Region District Energy Assessment and Feasibility Study

The objective of this study is to develop a district energy evaluation and plan for the Regional Municipality of Durham. This will be achieved by analyzing and assessing the current energy demand and response at the Region of Durham throughout all sectors, including commercial, institutional, industrial and residential sectors. There are numerous potential district energy nodes throughout the member municipalities within the region. Furthermore, the region houses two major nuclear power plants, which can be leveraged as potential energy sources for district energy. Various energy sources, systems and storage solutions can be integrated to achieve a reliable district energy system, including geothermal, solar, nuclear, cogeneration, multigeneration energy systems as well as thermal energy storage options. The study also seeks to review the benefits of District Energy Systems (DES) relative to conventional Business As Usual (BAU) design and offer energy node considerations of where and how DES may be effectively implemented. This study shall be viewed as Phase 1 of a multi-phase assignment.

Faculty Supervisor:

Ibrahim Dincer

Student:

Azzam Abu-Rayash

Partner:

The Regional Municipality of Durham

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

University:

Ontario Tech University

Program: