Port tenant Collective Arts Brewing is a craft brewery that aims to fuse the creativity of craft beer with the inspired talents of emerging artists and musicians. As Collective Arts’ reputation and sales continue to rise, the need for mission-critical energy and telecommunication services are essential to meet the demands of a rapidly growing business.
The Hamilton-based HCE group of companies stepped up to meet this challenge. HCE Energy has been providing District Energy solutions that include power, heating and cooling services to commercial and government properties in the downtown core of Hamilton since 2002.
In 2017, HCE Telecom completed its first fibre optic build within the Hamilton Port, providing Internet and voice services to Collective Arts. In 2018, HCE Energy completed its newest District Energy initiative located at Pier 10 which is a 2 megawatt (MW) combined heat and power system. This system provides both electricity to the grid, with the resulting heat from this process used to supply hot water and steam for heating which can be utilized by nearby Port tenants.
Collective Arts was the first company to utilize this heating capacity to power their expanding brewery. By using steam supplied by HCE Energy, Collective Arts was able to avoid making a large capital investment into a new boiler system and instead focuses on continuing to grow its brand at home and abroad.