Siemens partnership powers education at Algonquin College

OTTAWA, April 22, 2016 /CNW/ - Algonquin College President, Cheryl Jensen, and Siemens Canada CEO, Robert Hardt, came together on Earth Day to unveil a new high-efficiency co-generation power plant at the College's Ottawa campus. The organizations also strengthened ties by signing a Memorandum of Understanding that will benefit Algonquin College students by providing opportunities to learn first-hand in a "living lab" for the future of energy systems. 

The co-generation natural gas plant will generate two megawatts of power - enough to cover the baseline power needs of the Ottawa campus. Algonquin College and Siemens Canada will continue to collaborate on leading edge academic programming that will maximize experiential learning opportunities for students and lead to new applied research opportunities. In addition, the College has announced a new graduate certificate program to debut in Fall 2017. Energy Management is aimed at students with existing credentials who are looking to further their careers in the energy sector.

"This project is a game-changer in our efforts to maintain our facilities, control our costs, and expand the learning opportunities for our students," said Cheryl Jensen, President, Algonquin College. "Delegations the world over have visited our Ottawa campus because of the innovative thinking behind this project. This project has become a trend-setter, and we thank Siemens Canada for their creativity and their partnership."

Ontario's Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli, Ottawa West-Nepean MP Anita Vandenbeld, and German Ambassador Werner Wnendt were on-hand to tour the new plant and the future site of the new Energy Innovation Centre that will showcase inventive technologies for sustainable energy generation and energy management. 

"I want to congratulate Algonquin and Siemens as they unveil this innovative project", said Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli. "This facility will have long-term positive impacts on our local college, our region, and on our province. It will provide innovations in technology to reduce electricity costs, better manage energy use, and improve the training of the next generation of power workers and energy system innovators."

"Canada's energy landscape is changing dramatically and the industry innovation needs to happen in a real-world setting," explains Robert Hardt, CEO, Siemens Canada. "Today's students are tomorrow's skilled workforce and strong private-public partnerships like the one between Siemens and Algonquin are vital to enhancing education and research in the energy space, ensuring Canada remains competitive and sustainable."

Algonquin College's Guaranteed Energy Savings COntract (ESCO) with Siemens is a 20-year, multi-million collaboration that has resulted in numerous efficiency and sustainability retrofits to the Ottawa campus. Installing the co-generation plant represents 'Phase 3' of the ESCO2 agreement, and confers a number of benefits for Algonquin College:

• Reduces the College's energy expenses
• Reduces the College's deferred maintenance (outstanding repairs and maintenance)
• Allows the College to continue to operate in an electricity outage
• Opportunities for students and programs to conduct applied research projects

The heat generated by the plant will also be retained by this new system and used to heat and cool the College, further reducing Algonquin's energy expenses.

About Algonquin College - www.algonquincollege.com:

The mission of Algonquin College of Applied Arts and Technology is to transform hopes and dreams into skills and knowledge, leading to lifelong career success. Algonquin College, an Ontario public sector community college, does this by offering hands-on, digitally connected applied learning in over 185 programs. Based in the Ottawa Valley, Algonquin College is the largest polytechnic institute in Eastern Ontario.

About Siemens - www.siemens.ca:

For more than 100 years Siemens Canada has stood for engineering excellence, innovation, quality and reliability. Siemens technology in the fields of electrification, automation and digitalization helps make real what matters to Canadians. From the Atlantic to Pacific oceans, more than 4,800 employees in Canada work together to deliver solutions for sustainable energy, intelligent infrastructure, healthcare, and the future of manufacturing. One of the world's largest producers of energy-efficient, resource-saving technologies, Siemens is a leading supplier of gas and steam turbines for power generation, a major provider of power transmission solutions and a pioneer in infrastructure solutions and automation, drive and software solutions for industry. The company is also a foremost provider of medical imaging equipment and a leader in laboratory diagnostics. Sales for Siemens Canada in fiscal 2015 (ended September 30), were $3.0 billion CAD. The company has 46 offices and 15 production facilities across Canada. 

SOURCE Algonquin College

Phil Gaudreau, Public Relations and Communications, Algonquin College, [email protected], 613-727-4723 ext. 2091; Ann Adair, Vice-President Communications and Government Affairs, [email protected], 416-567-7831