Don’t poo-poo this energy project

Oshawa Power invests in zoo-waste biogas plant Oshawa Power CEO Ivano Labricciosa says this is a “waste-toenergy solution.”

Vishnu, the one-horned rhino at the Toronto Zoo, can produce enough manure in a year to power a home for 72 days, and Oshawa Power has stepped up to help turn that waste into a resource. Oshawa Power is joining ZooShare — an energy co-operative with more than 600 members — and the Toronto Zoo in building a biogas plant at the zoo’s Scarborough location.

“It’s a waste-to-energy solution, so basically it takes organic waste, most of which comes from the zoo … it diverts it away from landfill,” explained Ivano Labricciosa, Oshawa Power CEO and president.

The plant will use an anaerobic digester where bacteria will break down animal waste as well as other organic waste, like food waste, in an oxygen-free environment. The bacteria then release methane and other biogases, and those greenhouse gases are fed into a 500-kilowatt combined heat and power engine. The plant will offset a third of the zoo’s electricity use and generate electricity equivalent to powering 500 homes. The leftover solid waste from the process becomes fertilizer.

Labricciosa explains that 75 per cent of the material to feed the plant will come from the zoo, most of it in the form of manure.

Oshawa Power is investing roughly $4 million in the project through the company’s non-regulated arm, meaning that the dollars do not come from hydro ratepayers. That investment means a 49 per cent stake in the project with an option to eventually become the majority owner.

“This one stood out because it was halfway there,” Labricciosa said.

“It needed a little bit of expertise in operating, a little bit of investment in terms of money and a little bit of innovation in terms of thinking outside of the box and bringing a solution to the forefront.”