Public Notice: Woodstock Wastewater Treatment Plant Biogas Utilization Project – ERO Posting
PUBLIC NOTICE
Woodstock Wastewater Treatment Plant Biogas Utilization Project – ERO Posting
Oxford County is undertaking a biogas utilization upgrade at the Woodstock Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) as part of the County’s 100% Renewable Energy Plan by implementing a Combined Heat and Power (CHP) system to generate heat and electricity from biogas produced at the WWTP. The project proposal has now been posted to the Environmental Registry of Ontario (ERO) and is under technical review by the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks.
Project location
The project is located at the Woodstock Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP), located at 195 Admiral Street, Woodstock, Ontario. The fenced portion of the WWTP site is 4.79 hectares and contains buildings associated with the WWTP (including settling and aeration tanks and other associated infrastructure supporting wastewater treatment processes), paved and unpaved access roads, a parking lot and a photovoltaic (PV) system (for the electricity generation from sunlight). The map provided in this notice outlines the project’s location.
Public description
Pursuant to the Environmental Protection Act and Regulation, the facility in respect of which the project is to be engaged in is considered to be a biogas facility. If approved, this facility would have a total maximum nameplate capacity of 250 kilowatts (kW). The facility will use a Combined Heat and Power (CHP) system to utilize biogas generated by existing anaerobic digesters at the WWTP to generate heat and electricity.
The intent of the proposed biogas facility is to mitigate the carbon footprint of the Woodstock WWTP, alleviate pressure on the energy grid, and consequently reduce greenhouse gas emissions from conventional power generation facilities. Moreover, the facility’s emphasis on utilizing biogas for heat generation, rather than relying on natural gas combustion, further enhances its sustainability efforts and contributes to the reduction of its overall carbon footprint. This new CHP system will offset 40% of the grid electricity used at the treatment plant and 39% of its required heat energy. The project would reduce the annual greenhouse gas emission for heat and electricity at the WWTP by 58%.
The Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) has reviewed the project submission, and the proposal for the Woodstock WWTP Biogas Utilization Project is now posted on the Environmental Registry of Ontario (ERO) at https://ero.ontario.ca for a 45 day comment period ending March 6, 2026. It is ERO 026-0069.
Project proposal technical reports
The technical documents prepared as per Ontario Regulation (O.Reg.) 359/09 as part of the project proposal submission to the MECP are available on Oxford County’s website at the link: https://speakup.oxfordcounty.ca/woodstock-wwtp-biogas
Please contact the project contacts should a printed copy of the technical reports be required. All technical reports are available on Oxford County’s website and are currently under technical review by the MECP.
Project contacts
To learn more about the project proposal or to communicate concerns, please contact:
Nathan Gerber, Coordinator
Energy Management, Oxford County
519-539-9800 ext. 3240
ngerber@oxfordcounty.ca
Sean Speer, Senior Environmental Engineer
J.L. Richards & Associates (JLR)
226-770-5120
sspeer@jlrichards.ca
Kerry Tuyen, Director of Innovation, Technology and Alternate Delivery
Ontario Clean Water Agency (OCWA)
905-301-1957
ktuyen@ocwa.com
Information collected will be used in accordance with the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. With the exception of personal information, all comments will become part of the public record.