Ontario needs clean, affordable, and reliable energy; not just more electricity. That’s why OSPE has launched a focused advocacy campaign to put Thermal Energy Systems (TES) on the policy map alongside electrification. Our goal is simple: make thermal a mainstream pillar of Ontario’s clean energy transition.
Why thermal energy and why now?
Most of Ontario’s energy demand is heat (space heating, hot water, industrial processes). Thermal networks like district energy, geo-exchange, sewage and industrial waste-heat recovery, and thermal storage can decarbonize buildings faster and more affordably while easing pressure on the grid. When paired with electrification, TES improves reliability, lowers system costs, and helps cities retrofit at scale.
Bottom line: Thermal complements electrification. It doesn’t compete with it.
What we’re advocating for
We’ve set five strategic goals to guide our work:
- Elevate thermal as a viable, affordable, scalable decarbonization solution in Ontario.
- Position engineers at the centre of planning, design, and delivery of TES.
- Embed TES in Ontario’s Integrated Energy Plan and funding frameworks.
- Build public and stakeholder support for thermal innovation, especially urban retrofits and district systems.
- Demystify the tech with clear, practical explanations of how TES works and where it fits.
Our core messages:
- Thermal is proven. Used widely in Europe and Asia, TES is reliable and efficient for new builds and retrofits.
- Engineers make it work. Designing, integrating, and optimizing TES is an engineering challenge, our profession delivers it.
- It strengthens the grid. Thermal reduces peak demand and helps manage electrification costs.
- It’s a missed opportunity. Ignoring thermal today risks stranded assets and higher future costs.
We’ve kicked off outreach to priority decision-makers and partners to secure policy and program changes that recognize and fund thermal:
- Provincial ministries: Energy; Municipal Affairs & Housing; Rural Affairs; Infrastructure.
- Energy agencies & regulators: Ontario Energy Board (OEB) and Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) to ensure TES is considered in system and local distribution planning.
- Municipal leaders: Targeted engagement in cities where district energy and urban retrofit opportunities are strongest.
Thermal energy is a critical – yet overlooked – piece of Ontario’s clean-energy future. With engineers at the table, TES can help us decarbonize smarter. OSPE is moving this forward with government, municipalities, utilities, and industry so Ontario can build the right mix of solutions for real-world results.
If you’d like to contribute a case study, join a briefing, or partner with OSPE on this advocacy, reach us at advocacy@ospe.on.ca with the subject line “Thermal Energy – Get Involved.”
Comments (2)
Thermal networks are a major opportunity to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Ontario.
Between 1976 and 1996 Ontario Hydro operated one of the largest zero-emission district heating systems in the world at the Bruce Nuclear Power Development (BNPD) site. The system was designed to deliver about 1,000 MW(th) of steam from the Bruce A Nuclear Station to heat site buildings, greenhouses at the Bruce Energy Centre and provide process steam to make heavy water at the Bruce Heavy Water Plants. The decommissioning of the heavy water plants and the layup of the Bruce A reactors in the late 1990’s and the low cost of natural gas in North America eventually caused the decommissioning of the steam supply from the Bruce A reactors.
It would be amazing to use hot water district heating experience from Europe and Asia to repurpose our nuclear plants’ waste heat and other community waste heat sources to provide zero-emission heat to buildings in our cities. With development of LNG facilities on the western coast of Canada and southern coast of the USA, future North American natural gas prices are expected to rise closer to prices in Europe and Asia. Also with the public’s interest in reducing emissions to mitigate rapid climate change, zero-emission heat will have greater value in the future. In a few years zero-emission heat from our nuclear plants and other community heat sources will become a valuable commodity.
Now is the time to develop the required energy policies and begin to deploy thermal solutions to reduce our community primary energy needs. We can accelerate the progress by coupling various sectors of our economy to reduce waste heat and help reduce the future cost of zero-emission heat.
A special thanks to the board members of the Boltzmann Institute of Canada for encouraging OSPE to take on this new policy advocacy initiative.
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