The Liberty Energy solution will provide a viable, cost competitive, environmentally sustainable option for biosolids management. Liberty Energy Centre is designated as a utility-grade power generation station.
With a biosolids thermal processing capacity of 368,000 tonnes per year, the facility will generate 13 MW of renewable energy. Four MW of power are used to operate the plant, leaving a net 9 MW for delivery into the grid based on favorable renewable-energy pricing terms.
Liberty Energy is enrolled in the Feed-In-Tariff program for selling renewable energy to the Ontario Power Authority. Revenues from renewable power sales offset biosolids management service fees paid by Liberty’s municipal partners by approximately $30 per tonne. Liberty’s green technology reduces the carbon footprint of biosolids management. As a result, cost estimates for the LEC solution are anticipated to be more cost effective than any other biosolids management solution, including land filling.
Liberty offers flexible pricing solutions through both equity and commercial service delivery models that are full service offerings which include all aspects of long-term thermal reduction. Liberty’s pricing system provides enhanced flexibility for municipalities by offering a variety of service delivery models. Municipal customers may choose to participate as an equity partner by making initial capital contributions to be used for plant construction, thereby obtaining proportional ownership interests in the plant, as well as upside sharing.
Municipal partners selecting this option will have limited liability, significantly lower annual operating costs, and guaranteed reserve capacity for long-term biosolids management. Significant savings are achieved under the “equity” service delivery model which allows the municipal partner to "buy down" its annual operating costs through a one-time capital contribution, thus dramatically reducing lifecycle costs.
The City of Hamilton has been shortlisted for a federal P3 grant that would fund up to 25 percent of its equity contributions as well as the equity contributions apportionable to other communities, further reducing already dramatically lowered life cycle costs associated with the equity service delivery model.
Alternatively, a fixed price commercial service delivery model is also available at a higher life cycle cost. A municipal partner provides a guaranteed tonnage and Liberty provides a biosolids thermal reduction service for a fixed fee with no up-front or capital contributions. The City of Hamilton’s federal grant, if awarded, will also significantly reduce life cycle costs for municipal participants opting to proceed with the commercial service delivery model.
Both service delivery models normally include transportation infrastructure at the municipal partner’s location as well as the daily transportation component.
