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:

• The Sault Ste. Marie Innovation Centre, one of the Destiny SSM partners, has taken the lead to implement the Alternative Energy Strategy.
   
• Essar Steel completed construction of a $135-million cogeneration plant that utilizes excess gas from the steelmaking process.  The 70-megawatt project reduces the company’s reliance on the power grid by an average of 50% and its nitrous oxide emissions by 15%.
   
• The $360-million Pod Generating/Starwood Energy Group solar farm began construction.  On Base Line, 20 megawatts are now in operation, while 30 more megawatts are nearing completion on Black Road.
   
• 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 about 60,000 homes or two cities the size of Sault Ste. Marie.

Hydroelectric
There are five hydroelectric stations in the Sault Ste. Marie area that generate a total of 203 megawatts of renewable energy. The nearby Wawa area generates an additional 196 megawatts from hydro operations.

Waste-to-Energy
Elementa Group is working on its full-scale facility that will 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 more than five megawatts of electricity.

Cogeneration
Essar Steel Algoma, one of the Sault’s largest employers, began a cogeneration power project that utilizes excess gas from the steelmaking process. The $135-million initiative produces 70 megawatts of electricity and reduces the firm’s reliance on the power grid by an average of 50 per cent.

Solar Energy
Sault Ste. Marie is home to Starwood Energy Group, which has established a 20 megawatt solar farm and is now working on an additional 30 megawatts. When complete, the farms will generate enough electricity to power about 21,000 homes. The city is also home to Heliene Canada, which  recently established a photovoltaic solar panel manufacturing facility.

Reverse Polymerization
Using “Reverse Polymerization” technology, Ellsin Environmental is working on a pilot tire recycling plant that breaks down old tires into their original parts: steel, oil and carbon black. Separated, each is valuable and can be reused for a variety of purposes, including power generation.

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, recently signed an agreement with the Ontario Power Authority to establish a 30-megawatt cogeneration project, which will use biomass (wood waste) 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. Other players, including the City, 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 PUC 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, the Sault Ste. Marie iarea s expected to produce about 659 megawatts of electricity, enough to power over 200,000 homes across the province.