Pre-feasibility study of applying a biomass-powered district energy system in Marathon, Ontario

Abstract

With the energy price fluctuation the nation is currently experiencing, more and more people are now looking into biomass as a substitute energy resource. Northwestern Ontario, with a history of forestry operations and management for over a hundred years and a substantial net annual growth of wood, has the potential to produce enough biomass to support the energy demand of the local communities as well as take a portion of the national or international market. There have been several previous studies within the region of Northwestern Ontario to assess the possibility of applying biomass heating in remote communities to reduce the cost as well as add energy supply stability. In this article, we examined the feasibility of applying a biomass-powered district energy system (DES) in Marathon, ON. A biomass-powered DES is proposed to be constructed in the town center to supply the surrounding public buildings with heat. The cost of the DES is $14,405,095. We concluded that a volume of 26,061 m3 of wood chips is needed to supply the DES annually. A total volume of 30,638 m3 of wood pellets will be needed to supply all the private dwellings in Marathon with individual biomass boilers or furnaces. There is a total volume of over 9 million cubic meters of wood that could be potentially used for biomass production in the surrounding forest units, within a 10-years management period, which could sufficiently supply the proposed project. The proposed DES will bring a potential annual saving of $2,075,249 on fuel, which will make the return period of the initial investment 8.737 years. The DES will also bring a GHG reduction of 3,712 tons annually.