Sewage treatment generates large volumes of gases as solids are broken down by bacterial and physical action. This “biogas”, full of impurities, was historically allowed to vent into the atmosphere, contributing to the malodorous air long associated with wastewater treatment. More modern wastewater facilities capture and safely incinerate or “flare” their biogas. In recent years, some plants began adding portions of their biogas to commercially sourced natural gas and burning the mixture to produce steam or modest amounts of electricity, while still flaring most of their biogas. Calgary’s Bonnybrook Wastewater Treatment
Facility is one such site.

Today, Bonnybrook is taking biogas handling to the highest level: using all of its biogas as the primary fuel source to meet its needs for electric power and industrial steam for its advanced treatment process. The Bonnybrook Cogeneration Expansion Project is currently undergoing commissioning and system operational testing in preparation for handover to the City of Calgary by early summer. It is a first in Canada. “This project is aligned with our corporate energy plan, which includes conserving energy, improving efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” says Jifan Liu, the City of Calgary’s Project
Manager. “It will help in that manner and is the best way for us to do it. Biogas is a by-product of our wastewater treatment process, so we have the biogas. We should harness it to no longer flare, and use it to produce energy. Otherwise it goes to waste.”

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