The P.E.I. government is looking to trade in some heating oil bills to jumpstart a biomass heating industry on the Island.
Community Hospital in O'Leary will be one of the sites for the pilot project. (CBC) Energy Minister Richard Brown is putting out a request for proposals on Friday for long-term contracts to heat six government buildings with biomass instead of oil. Biomass heating uses renewable resources such as wood chips or straw. Brown believes it can be a moneymaker for some Island businesses.
"It's to help start an industry on P.E.I.," said Brown.
"We have to take some risk, we have to do some investments, but in the long run I believe we're going to get a good bio-economy here with the agriculture community, the forestry community, with the woodlot owners, with the saw mills. It's just a win-win situation."
Community Hospital in O'Leary will be one site. The government garage in Summerside may be another. A few schools in Kings County are also possibilities. Companies will be offered five- to 10-year contracts.
"We're going to be telling them, 'look, here's how much oil each one of these facilities burns during a year. We're willing to pay you within a range of the oil price. You'll have to buy the plant, secure the biomass, maintain the plant, and basically provide us heat for the duration of the contract,'" said Brown.
Contracts will only be awarded to companies that can prove their methods are sustainable, environmentally friendly and will benefit the Island economy.
The idea of setting up these test sites comes from a 27-page report called Biomass Heat on Prince Edward Island: A Pathway Forward, which was tabled Tuesday in the legislature.
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