Map data: Google, ©2022
The Buildings
There are 80 buildings on the system, including:
Tunney’s Pasture Energy Centre
Tunney’s Pasture Energy Centre is set to become one of the new faces of clean energy in Canada. It will be the centerpiece of the new Tunney’s Pasture campus, a 49-hectare (121 acre) redevelopment that will create a leading-edge employment community while achieving lofty standards in urban design, planning and sustainable development. Parcels of land will be sold to private developers who will be able to tap into the district energy system for their mixed-use developments.
Cliff Energy Centre
Located next to the Ottawa River, just below the Supreme Court of Canada and close to the Parliament Buildings, the modernized Cliff Energy Centre will be a destination landmark. The plant itself will be hidden behind a giant concrete curtain. Cliff will access the cool waters of the Ottawa River via a 168-meter-long intake pipe. A public park is being built on the escarpment’s upper plateau and cascading theatre boxes will provide spectacular views of the area. It will include a visitor’s education center to highlight technological innovations.
Gatineau Energy Centre
In Quebec, the new Gatineau Energy Centre will be the greenest plant in the fleet. It will be powered by carbon-free hydroelectricity with battery back-up. A new pump house will be built on the Ottawa River to provide it with a green, renewable source of cool water. The facility will be built mostly underground, with a green roof, community gardens and native trees and plants to beautify the area.
The Gatineau Energy Centre will be interconnected with the Cliff and Tunney’s plants, providing flexibility and economy in dispatch of energy to the network. It will act as a demonstration facility for future ideas and promotion of clean energy in Canada.
The Distribution Systems
The new district energy system consists of 29 kilometres of new, direct buried piping and 4.5 kilometres of new piping within the existing tunnels that run under the National Capital Region.
Cliff West Distribution connects the new Cliff and Tunney’s power plants with two large-diameter, Low Temperature Hot Water (LTHW) lines. The new piping runs through some of the busiest parts of the city and involves four major road crossings and a river crossing.
Cliff East Distribution connects Cliff and Gatineau to two LTHWs and two chilled-water distribution pipes. It requires piping across the inter-provincial Macdonald-Cartier Bridge and a tunnel-boring machine to complete an 800-metre-long route under sensitive arterial roads.
Confederation Heights Energy Centre
The Confederation Heights Energy Centre will power an independent district energy system serving the local campus of existing federal buildings. It will be renovated to integrate modern renewable technology, including three new boilers producing low-temperature hot water and three new chillers.
1. Library and Archives Canada
2. Supreme Court of Canada
3. C.D. Howe Building
4. West Block
5. Parliament of Canada
6. East Block
7. National Arts Centre
8. Shaw Centre
9. National Defence Canada
10. National Gallery of Canada
11. Global Affairs Canada
House of Commons of Canada
National Printing Bureau Pumphouse
Located on the north shore of the Ottawa River, adjacent to the Macdonald-Cartier Bridge, the National Printing Bureau Pumphouse is being built to supply condenser water to the electric chillers at the Gatineau Energy Centre, about one kilometre away. Its wet well extends approximately eight metres below the surface of the river.
