Liberty Energy Inc. is a biosolids management company that is developing a new state-of-the-art biosolids fired thermal electric power plant in Hamilton, Ontario. This facility, named the Liberty Energy Centre will utilize the latest fluidized bed thermal reduction technology in order to generate renewable electricity. The facility will use biosolids (also known as sewage sludge) and biomass as fuel. These materials have traditionally been managed through land filling, land application, incineration or composting (biomass only). Biomass includes grass and garden clippings, clean dimensional lumber, and urban forestry waste. The Liberty Energy Centre will be a regional biosolids thermal reduction facility with energy recovery producing a net 9 MW of renewable energy delivered to the grid, sufficient to provide electricity to approximately 8000 homes. Liberty Energy will be located at 675 Strathearne Avenue, Hamilton, ON on a 2.3 hectare site under the control of Liberty Energy. The facility will accommodate both stabilized and unstabilized biosolids, potentially eliminating the need for digestion. The facility will employ 23 full-time employees on site to operate the plant and 36 additional employees for fuel transportation.
Liberty Energy Centre will have the capacity to process up to 368,000 tonnes per year of biosolids, providing a long term, sustainable and environmentally friendly method to manage this waste. The facility will produce renewable energy to meet critical energy demands in Ontario and is a base-loaded power plant, providing power all the time.
Five years of feasibility studies and engineering analysis have enabled Liberty Energy to identify the technology best suited to utilizing biosolids to generate electricity and secure all approvals, Environmental Assessment, Certificate of Approvals, Site Plan approval and enrollment in the Ontario Power Authority's Feed-In-Tariff (FIT) program for renewable energy supply. Liberty Energy is currently working with municipalities to attain sufficient biosolids supply to sustain the facility. Liberty Energy is developing a similar project in California using the same technology and fuels to produce renewable energy, Liberty Energy Center.
The Liberty Energy Centre is the first biosolids thermal oxidization facility to be permitted at a new location in Ontario in 32 years. Liberty Energy has obtained provincial permits for the facility over a period of 54 months, through the preparation of over 5,000 pages of documents and nine public information open houses at a cost of approximately $5 Million. Liberty Energy Centre will be a regional facility, designed to serve the City of Hamilton and several surrounding communities, including the City of Toronto.
