Community & Indigenous Engagement
Background
Index Energy Ajax Corporation (“IEAC”) owns and operates a nominal 25 MW biomass fueled renewable energy cogeneration facility (“Facility”), which is located at 170 Mills Road, Ajax Ontario L1S 2H1 Canada. IEAC commenced commercial operations in June 2015 and has an existing 17.8 MW Feed-In-Tariff (“FIT”) Contract with the Independent Electricity System Operator (“IESO”) of Ontario. The Facility has two (2) existing Siemens condensing steam turbine generators (“CSTG”), which are connected to the 44 KV grid and supply 8.9 MW of baseload capacity each. Further, the Facility includes a General Electric (“GE”) MW back pressure steam turbine generator (“BPSTG”), which was installed at the Facility in June 2015, however, it was disconnected from the grid. EcoGen Holdings, LLC (“EcoGen”), a Jupiter, Florida based independent power company, will be acquiring IEAC during the refinancing of the Facility in early 2023.
Ecogen X Project
The EcoGen X Project entails the replacement of the existing used GE BPSTG with a new, purposefully designed, 7.6 MW Siemens BPSTG. The new 7.6 MW Siemens BPSTG will be installed within the existing Facility and connected to the 44 KV Grid using the existing electrical interconnection facilities, on a parallel metering configuration, with the two (2) existing Siemens CSTGs. Siemens will be providing all new equipment and systems, associated with the BPSTG, needed to bring the new steam turbine into commercial operations.
During the same construction period, IEAC will also replace its two (2) existing stoker-fired boilers with a single new state-of-the-art Valmet bubbling fluidized bed (“BFB”) boiler at the Facility. IEAC collectively refers to its Valmet BFB Boiler and Siemens BPSTG replacement project as the EcoGen X Project.
Most of the construction activities associated with EcoGen X will be taking place within the existing building complex, however, certain components, which support the new Valmet BFB boiler, will be replacing support equipment located outside of our existing building and adjacent to IEAC’s emissions stack. IEAC has received all required local, provincial, and federal approvals and permits necessary to proceed with the EcoGen X Project. Finally, the EcoGen X Project is expected to be commissioned and the Facility restarted in April 2025.
Community & Indigenous Engagement
A Community & Indigenous Engagement Plan has been developed to inform and seek involvement from the Town of Ajax and Ontario’s neighboring Indigenous First Nation communities. The local Community Engagement includes creating an ECOGEN X PROJECT dedicated webpage and revisions to the existing IEAC website (www.indexenergy.ca). Further, IEAC has identified and issued Notification Letters to all abutters of IEAC, which describe the EcoGen X Project and its timeline. IEAC has also held numerous discussions with the municipal appointed and elected officials within the Town of Ajax. Further, The Town of Ajax plans to approve a Municipal Support Resolution on December 12, 2022, at their Town Council Meeting. Finally, IEAC plans to host a Public Information Meeting on the EcoGen X Project on December 14, 2022, at 3:00 PM EST at its Facility.
IEAC’s Indigenous Engagement includes direct outreach to several neighboring First Nation communities to further describe the EcoGen X Project and the potential partnering opportunities available to these Indigenous communities. Such partnering opportunities include equity investment into the Facility and the Biomass Hub Site, which provides the biomass fuel for the Facility. The management of IEAC believes strongly that open, transparent, and continuous dialog with its neighboring communities is essential to fostering good working relationships. Accordingly, IEAC plans to collaborate with these communities throughout the construction and operations of the EcoGen X Project.