City to be green with energy?

All kinds of aluminum products, ranging from beer cans to engine blocks, could be used as feed stock for a cuttingedge power plant in Penticton, officials from the company behind the project told city council at its meeting Tuesday.

Toronto-based Frontenac Energy is seeking a city-owned plot of land for the facility, which would use proprietary technology to convert scrap aluminum into steam, electricity, hydrogen, aluminum oxide and water.

Frontenac’s proposal, which was previously presented to council behind closed doors, includes commitments to supply the city with one megawatt of power – enough to supply roughly 250 homes – at a discounted rate and pay the municipality $250,000 annually from the proceeds of the carbon credits it expects to receive from its operations.

CEO Dave White told council the big prize from the plant would be “green” hydrogen, which he described as the “Holy Grail” of clean energy, because it’s emerging as a serious candidate to power the cars and trucks of the future – including those used by municipal employees.

“We could, potentially, have Penticton’s entire city fleet running on our fuel and what would come out the tail pipes is benign water,” said White, who’s confident there’s enough scrap aluminum in the area to keep the plant running.

The aluminum oxide produced in the power generating process could then be sold back to aluminum smelters for resmelting, while the steam could be used for heating.

Another company official, Steve Neil, told council Frontenac selected Penticton for its first project in part because some staff live in the Okanagan, but mainly because the city is among a handful of communities in B.C. that operates its own electrical utility.

White said Frontenac already has financing from the Bank of Montreal confirmed for the project, which would be built by Emil Anderson Construction, the owner of which is a Frontenac investor.

Councillors seemed wary about partnering with an unknown entity on a first-of-its kind project, and city engineer Ian Chapman noted staff has a long list of due diligence items – not least of which is finding a suitable site – to look after before considering a formal deal.

There are no timelines in place for the project, other than an expectation for public engagement to start this fall.