Focus:

• Technology: Invent, design, construct and support the expansion and growth of green technologies in Sault Ste. Marie

• Labour Workforce Training & Development: Create programs that promote the future developments of the energy sector in the community

• Conservation & Demand Management: Develop a public awareness campaign on building a conservation-minded society in Sault Ste. Marie

• Energy Conference: Educate, promote, showcase the city and learn about clean energy opportunities

Recent Progress:

In 2008, City Council declared Sault Ste. Marie the Alternative Energy Capital of North America. The claim was a bold yet justified one. Some of the green projects currently underway in the Sault area include:

Wind Energy
Sault Ste. Marie is home to the Prince Wind Farm, one of the largest wind energy farm in Canada. The site’s 126 turbines can produce 189 megawatts of renewable energy, enough to power 60,000 homes or two cities the size of Sault Ste. Marie.

Hydroelectric
The Great Lakes Hydro Income Fund operates five hydroelectric stations in the Sault Ste. Marie area. Together, the sites produce 203 megawatts of renewable energy.

Waste-to-Energy
Elementa Group plans to convert Sault Ste. Marie’s municipal garbage into clean energy using a patented steam reformation process. The technology vaporizes solid waste into a synthetic gas – similar to natural gas – which will be used to generate five megawatts of electricity.

Cogeneration
Essar Steel Algoma, one of Sault Ste. Marie’s largest employers, began a cogeneration power project that utilizes excess gases from the steelmaking process. The $135-million project will produce 70 megawatts of electricity and reduce the company’s reliance on the provincial power grid by an average of 50 per cent.

Solar Energy
Sault Ste. Marie is the anticipated future home of Canada’s largest solar energy farm. Pod Generating Group is leading the $400-million investment. When complete, the sites will house enough solar panels to generate 60 megawatts of renewable electricity, which can power around 21,000 homes. The first 20 megawatts are currently under construction.

Reverse Polymerization
Ellsin Environmental contracted Environmental Waste International’s “Reverse Polymerization” technology, a process that breaks down old tires into their original parts: steel, oil and carbon black. Separated, each component is valuable and can be reused for a variety of purposes, including power generation. Expected to be complete in 2010, the facility will initially process 900 tires per day.

Natural Gas
Brookfield Power operates a 110-megawatt cogeneration plant in Sault Ste. Marie. The facility consists of two 40-megawatt natural gas turbines and one 30-megawatt steam turbine.

Biomass
St. Marys Paper, another major employer in Sault Ste. Marie, is working on a 35-megawatt cogeneration power project that, if developed, will use biomass as feedstock to generate electricity.

Biodiesel and Fibre Crop
Sault Ste. Marie-based SITTM Technologies is working to produce biodiesel from various feedstock, including used vegetable oil and coconut oil. Other players, including the City of Sault Ste. Marie, are looking to develop a fibre crop industry by growing sunflowers and other plants to extract oil and generate electricity.

Methane Collection
The City of Sault Ste. Marie will actively collect methane gas from its landfill site by December 2010. The local Public Utilities Commission proposes to then use the gas to generate about 1.6 megawatts of electricity.

[View Strategic Mind Maps]

The Alternative Energy Capital of North America (View the promotion)

With current and future alternative energy projects, Sault Ste. Marie is expected to produce more than 670 megawatts of electricity, enough to power over 200,000 homes across the province.