City of Vancouver NEU Expansion Opens as the Largest Operating Wet Project in North America

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Oct. 23, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SHARC International Systems Inc. (CSE: SHRC) (FSE: IWIA) (OTCQB: INTWF) ("SHARC Energy" or the “Company”), a world leader in Wastewater Energy Transfer (“WET”), is proud to announce that SHARC Energy has completed the supply and commissioning of five of its patented, best-in-class SHARC 880 systems at the False Creek Neighbourhood Energy Utility (“False Creek NEU”) Expansion.

The expansion has tripled the capacity of the False Creek NEU from 3.2 megawatts (“MW”) to 9.8MW making it the largest operating WET project in North America. Additionally, the expansion has significantly reduced the city’s reliance on the BC Hydro power grid due to the annual average Coefficient of Performance (“COP”) for generating heat at False Creek NEU of over 300%.

The False Creek NEU, which is considered a District Energy System (“DES”) or Thermal Energy Network (“TEN”), serves over 1,900,000 square metres of new development in Southeast False Creek, Mount Pleasant, the False Creek Flats and Northeast False Creek.

"The False Creek Neighbourhood Energy Utility is a great example of Vancouver’s ingenuity – we’ve literally turned raw sewage into an energy resource for the community,” said City of Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim. “Energy that would have been wasted down the drain is now heating commercial and residential spaces in parts of our most densely populated neighbourhoods.”  

It should be noted that the False Creek NEU is self-funded, simultaneously providing affordable rates to customers and a return on investment to City taxpayers. Furthermore, it is estimated that this completed expansion will result in an estimated carbon emission reduction of 4,400 tonnes a year.

The Company will service and maintain these systems for five years with a City of Vancouver option for an additional five years.

DES/TENs are an underground infrastructure asset where thermal energy is provided to multiple buildings from a central energy plant or plants. Steam or hot water produced at the plant is transmitted 24/7 through highly insulated underground thermal piping networks. The thermal energy is transferred into and from each building’s energy transfer stations, reducing mechanical room space required for housing equipment and simplifying heating and cooling systems. SHARC Energy’s equipment enables DES or TENs to leverage wastewater and other hydronic sources as a reservoir of thermal energy making it a key enabler of electrified, low-carbon urban infrastructure particularly within dense city cores where wastewater flows are constant and predictable.

“The False Creek NEU sets the example for WET supported district energy systems and serves to educate and grow awareness about the renewable thermal energy opportunities contained within a forgotten resource—Wastewater,” says Michael Albertson, President, CEO and Director of SHARC Energy. “SHARC Energy’s continued growth is fortified as developers are requesting their architects and engineers to specify SHARC technology as the basis of design across North America and globally. We are very excited for the future of WET.”

The Company’s patented SHARC Series WET technology has become the foundation of modern district energy system planning across North America and globally. Recognized by architects, engineers, utilities, and sustainability leaders as the best-in-class WET solution, SHARC systems are being specified as the basis of design for an exponentially growing number of district and thermal energy network projects. Many of these projects in design are larger and exceed the capacity of the False Creek NEU.

The SHARC Series ability to capture and reuse thermal energy from wastewater and other hydronic sources, providing continuous, bidirectional energy for heating, cooling and potable hot water generation is unmatched in the marketplace and WET is a key enabler of electrified, low-carbon urban infrastructure, particularly within dense city cores where wastewater flows are constant and predictable.

Currently, there are several WET district energy projects in development in various stages across the lower mainland of British Columbia. Quietly, the Metro Vancouver region is becoming the Wastewater Energy Transfer capital of the world showcasing energy and climate leadership in how other regions globally can leverage a forgotten resource like wastewater to heat, cool and water heat while reducing or eliminating natural resource depletion such as fresh water used in cooling towers or burning of fossil fuels for heating.

In North America, recent years have shown the proliferation of legislation supporting DES or TEN systems and growing. Currently, eleven states, up from eight in May 2025, including Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Colorado, Washington, Maryland, Vermont, California, Texas, Maine and Connecticut have legislation that either allows or mandates utilities to develop thermal energy network demonstration projects or pilots.

About SHARC Energy  
SHARC International Systems Inc. is a world leader in energy transfer with the wastewater we send down the drain every day. SHARC Energy's systems exchange thermal energy with wastewater, generating one of the most energy-efficient and economical systems for heating, cooling & hot water production for commercial, residential and industrial buildings along with thermal energy networks, commonly referred to as “District Energy”.

SHARC Energy is publicly traded in Canada (CSE: SHRC), the United States (OTCQB: INTWF) and Germany (Frankfurt: IWIA) and you can find out more on our SEDAR profile.

Learn more about SHARC Energy: Website | Customers | LinkedIn | YouTube | PIRANHA | SHARC

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

Fred Andriano
Chairman

The Canadian Securities Exchange does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Statements 
Certain statements contained in this news release may constitute forward-looking information. Forward-looking information is often, but not always, identified using words such as “anticipate”, “plan”, “estimate”, “expect”, “may”, “will”, “intend”, “should”, and similar expressions. Forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking information. SHARC Energy’s actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in this forward-looking information because of regulatory decisions, competitive factors in the industries in which the Company operates, prevailing economic conditions, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. SHARC Energy believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable, but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such forward-looking information should not be unduly relied upon. Any forward-looking information contained in this news release represents the Company’s expectations as of the date hereof and is subject to change after such date. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information whether because of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities legislation.

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at

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False Creek NEU Service Area

Current and Future customer map for False Creek NEU

SHARC 880 Systems at False Creek NEU

SHARC 880s are critical components of the False Creek Neighbourhood Energy Utility

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