Project Profile Kwadacha Nation installs wood gasification system Green gas By Taylor Fredericks dryer, became operational in April last year, and will be used to provide heat to greenhouses, a local school, and elec-tricity for the majority of the communi-ty. Each of the three units independently produces 45 kW of electricity and 108 kW of heat in the form of hot water. “It’s hard to believe looking back, but this is a project that we have been think-ing about for years now,” explains Van Somer. “I remember negotiating with a mining company on a mine that was underway in our region back around 2011, and it occurred to me then that C hief Donny Van Somer of the Kwa-dacha Nation can still vividly recall the moment almost seven years ago when he first began thinking about the possibility of reducing his community’s carbon footprint with renewable energy. Now, after years of research, partner-ship-building, and hard work, that dream has become a reality, with the Kwadacha Nation the proud new operators of North America’s first wood gasification system for district energy. The system, composed of three linked Borealis CHP biomass generators and a our lands and our country deserved a greener future.” Whatever inkling Van Somer might have had then about what such a future might look like, he admits he still had much to learn about the effort required to realize it. FROM FOSSIL FUELS TO FAST FRIENDS Located in Fort Ware, B.C., the Kwada-cha Nation is an off-the-grid remote com-munity more than 570 kilometres north of Prince George. Home of the Tsek’ene people, the community has an estimated population of 380, and approximately 80 The wood gasification system, composed of three linked Borealis CHP biomass generators and a dryer, became operational in April last year. Photos courtesy Borealis Wood Power Corp. 10 Canadian BIOMASS JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018
Canadian Biomass January-February 2018: Page 10
