The City of Richmond’s award-winning Lulu Island Energy Company has been named winner of the coveted 2023 National Energy Globe Award for the expansion of its City Centre utility.

Presented annually by the Energy Globe Foundation, an Austrian-based non-profit organization, the National Energy Globe Award recognizes projects focusing on energy efficiency, sustainability and the use of renewable energy or emission free sources in more than 180 countries.

The award celebrates the innovative City Centre District Energy Utility expansion, part of the Lulu Island District Energy system launched in 2013. The first three City Centre developments have already been connected to low carbon energy plants. By 2028, sewer heat recovery technology will be fully operational, fulfilling both climate action and circularity objectives of the City.

“The City of Richmond continues to be an international leader in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and the sustainable delivery of environmentally-friendly energy,” said Mayor Malcolm Brodie. “Over the next three decades, 70 per cent of our city’s growth will occur in and around the City Centre. This Lulu Island District Energy expansion will not only provide efficient low-carbon energy at competitive rates to residents and businesses in that area, but continue to meet our goals of net zero emissions by 2050.”

Once complete, the City Centre District Energy Centre (CCDEU) will be connected to 170 residential and mixed-use commercial development sites covering 50 million square feet. The CCDEU is projected to save over one million tonnes of carbon emissions compared to conventional energy systems.

This marks the third time the city has received the National Energy Globe Award. The city received the 2013 National Energy Globe Award for the Alexandra District Energy Utility first phase, and the 2020 National Energy Globe Award for the Garden City expansion of the Alexandra District Energy Utility.