MARKHAM, Ontario — Markham District Energy (MDE), a district energy utility in Canada, has selected Copeland’s Vilter VQ95 single-screw ammonia industrial heat pumps to power the world’s largest wastewater energy transfer (WET) facility at its Low Carbon Energy Centre in downtown Markham, Ontario.

Copeland and MDE are driving the energy transition through an innovative system design that utilizes the Vilter heat pumps, a press release from Copeland said. MDE’s WET facility extracts energy from wastewater for sustainable heating and cooling, reducing reliance on fossil fuels and lowering emissions, the release said.

“This initiative is set to revolutionize the use of wastewater as a renewable energy source,” said Ryan Garrah, vice president of Copeland for Canada. “Markham District Energy’s selection of our heat pumps demonstrates their trust in our differentiated technology to deliver efficient and reliable energy transfer from wastewater sources.”

The MDE WET facility differs from standard applications because instead of relying on conventional energy sources, it captures waste heat from sewage, which enters at about 5°C and is converted into 95°C usable heat.

Additionally, the facility’s integration into an underground sewage pipeline 8 feet in diameter near the district energy building is unique. It allows for large-scale, sustainable water heating while simultaneously providing cooling capacity, significantly reducing carbon emissions and showcasing how energy can be recovered from waste streams, the press release said.

Copeland’s industrial heat pumps are slated for delivery by mid-summer 2025 and scheduled to be fully operational by January 2026, the release said.