How do we supply heating and cooling to so many large buildings in downtown Montreal at once? The answer is right under your feet! Learn more about the role of our thermal power plant in the Sud-Ouest borough of Montreal and its underground network.
It combines three distinct networks.
The plant consists of several power generation units, supplying hot water and steam networks with natural gas and renewable natural gas boilers, and water networks with electric chillers.
It supplies the equivalent of the city of Sainte-Julie, i.e., 30,000 inhabitants.
The three underground networks currently serve more than 1.8 million m2 of building space for heating and cooling, which represents more than one third of downtown Montreal.
It operates 24/7.
It has been operating continuously since its creation in 1947 to meet the energy needs of customers at all times, regardless of weather conditions. It even provides emergency power!
It does its part for the environment.
Centralizing energy production enables us to replace individual facilities that are often more emissive. It also makes it possible to use renewable energies on a large scale and move more easily toward less emissive energies. In order to optimize its energy consumption, ÉCCU promotes the implementation of energy efficiency projects, notably through energy recovery, the installation of solar panels and the provision of global solutions to enhance energy performance. But that’s not all! A number of projects aimed at decarbonizing the grid’s energy supply are under development.
It’s expanding!
The plant will soon have its first branch to the downtown core for the chilled water network, and the multimedia network will be extended to supply new buildings.
