Classroom example ENMAX
Show your class · 1 of 5
The questionShow your class · 2 of 5
How it worksShow your class · 3 of 5
Who does this workShow your class · 4 of 5
Ways inShow your class · 5 of 5
Ask the classFor you
About ENMAXFor you
SourcesWhy use the heat left over from making electricity to make more electricity?
ENMAX · Company identifies Shepard Energy Centre in southeast Calgary; joint venture with Capital Power, operated by ENMAX.
Where it fits
Pick your class- Science 10 · Unit B, outcome 3 — energy conservation and thermal-system efficiency
How it works
Schematic · not to scale
The heat leaving one machine can become an input to another.
Natural gas supplies energy to a gas-turbine stage, which drives electrical generation.
Hot exhaust still carries energy after that first stage.
Heat recovery uses some of that exhaust energy to make steam for another turbine and generator.
Additional electrical output comes from the same initial energy supply, but losses and heat rejection remain. A complete energy account must include them.
The numbers are invented and are not Shepard performance data. Distinguish energy from power; do not use MW as if it were an amount of energy. A power engineer is an operational profession with its own certification path, distinct from professional engineering registration.
The lesson, in the real world
The heat leaving one machine can become an input to another.
- 1
Natural gas supplies energy to a gas-turbine stage, which drives electrical generation.
Our explanation - 2
Hot exhaust still carries energy after that first stage.
Our explanation - 3
Heat recovery uses some of that exhaust energy to make steam for another turbine and generator.
Our explanation - 4
Additional electrical output comes from the same initial energy supply, but losses and heat rejection remain. A complete energy account must include them.
Our explanation
Who does this work
Role
Mechanical design and prototyping
Translate a need into a component or machine that can be built and tested. Designers use dimensions, material properties and constraints to evaluate alternatives.
What might you actually do?
Investigate
Create and revise drawings or a digital model.
Test and compare
Choose materials and dimensions for the intended conditions.
Explain and improve
Compare the prototype with its requirements and refine the design.
Typical of this kind of work in general. Not a description of any one person’s job at ENMAX.
- Often works with
- Machinists, fabricators, test staff and customers
- Classroom connection
- Geometry, forces and material properties shape real design trade-offs.
Related job postings
Similar work at other employers in Calgary, AB, not openings at ENMAX. These are live searches: results change daily and we have not checked them.
How to prepare
Mechanical Engineering
University of Calgary
Ways in
For your students
Ways to prepare for this work
Programs that teach skills this work uses. Each is one route in, not a requirement, and no program has endorsed this page.
Showing routes for mechanical design and prototyping. Show all
University of CalgaryBScCalgary
Mechanical Engineering
Design using mechanics, materials and energy.
About this route
Professional engineering registration is a separate process. Check current admissions and intake before applying; this draft does not promise entry or employment.
Why it connects to the work · our interpretation
Mechanical design and prototypingDesign using mechanics, materials and energy. A model is useful when its assumptions are clear and measurements can challenge it.
Ask the class
Use it in class
Ask the class
Why does adding a second generating stage not mean that the plant has created extra energy?
Use a fictional energy budget: input 100 units; first electrical output 35; second electrical output 20; remaining 45 to other transfers. Compare 35% and 55% model efficiencies and explain where the second stage's input comes from.
Mindset it shows
The numbers are invented and are not Shepard performance data. Distinguish energy from power; do not use MW as if it were an amount of energy. A power engineer is an operational profession with its own certification path, distinct from professional engineering registration.
About ENMAX
The heat leaving one machine can become an input to another.
- Headquarters
- Headquarters not separately verified for this example.
- Local connection
- Company identifies Shepard Energy Centre in southeast Calgary; joint venture with Capital Power, operated by ENMAX.
- Source: enmax.com — natural gas fuelled(opens in a new tab); enmax.com — generation(opens in a new tab); enmax.com — careers(opens in a new tab); alis.alberta.ca — power engineer(opens in a new tab)
- Team size
- Not verified. We have not found a dated, sourced figure.
- The problem
- Why use the heat left over from making electricity to make more electricity?
- Source: enmax.com — natural gas fuelled(opens in a new tab); enmax.com — generation(opens in a new tab); enmax.com — careers(opens in a new tab); alis.alberta.ca — power engineer(opens in a new tab)
- What they do
- Generate power with gas turbines and recover exhaust heat to drive a steam turbine.
- Source: enmax.com — natural gas fuelled(opens in a new tab); enmax.com — generation(opens in a new tab); enmax.com — careers(opens in a new tab); alis.alberta.ca — power engineer(opens in a new tab)
- Who uses it
- People and organizations supplied by Alberta's electrical grid.
- Source: enmax.com — natural gas fuelled(opens in a new tab); enmax.com — generation(opens in a new tab); enmax.com — careers(opens in a new tab); alis.alberta.ca — power engineer(opens in a new tab)
ENMAX operates Shepard Energy Centre, a combined-cycle natural-gas generating facility in southeast Calgary, through a joint venture with Capital Power. Its generation information describes gas turbines and a steam turbine. The classroom story follows the energy: exhaust heat from the first stage helps produce additional electricity in the next. It does not present this as zero-emission or loss-free generation.
Source: enmax.com — natural gas fuelled(opens in a new tab); enmax.com — generation(opens in a new tab); enmax.com — careers(opens in a new tab); alis.alberta.ca — power engineer(opens in a new tab)Read each source’s date and scope: a documented role is not proof of a current vacancy or of where every position is based.
Reported as ENMAX states it. ENMAX has not reviewed or endorsed this page.
Sources and course fit
Sources checked 18 Oct 2026
Where it fits
- Science 10 · Unit B, outcome 3 — energy conservation and thermal-system efficiency
Editorial mapping to published CBE course topics. Pending educator review. No outcome-code alignment is claimed.
Sources
- enmax.com — natural gas fuelled(opens in a new tab)
- enmax.com — generation(opens in a new tab)
- enmax.com — careers(opens in a new tab)
- alis.alberta.ca — power engineer(opens in a new tab)
- SAIT — Power Engineering Technology(opens in a new tab)
- SAIT — Instrumentation Engineering Technology(opens in a new tab)
- University of Calgary — Mechanical Engineering(opens in a new tab)
- education.alberta.ca — science10.pdf(opens in a new tab)
Organization claims are reported as the organization states them. ENMAX has not reviewed or endorsed this page.
What we know, and how
| Type | Claim | How we know |
|---|---|---|
| work | ENMAX operates Shepard Energy Centre, a combined-cycle natural-gas generating facility in southeast Calgary, through a joint venture with Capital Power. Its generation information describes gas turbines and a steam turbine. The classroom story follows the energy: exhaust heat from the first stage helps produce additional electricity in the next. It does not present this as zero-emission or loss-free generation.Source: enmax.com — natural gas fuelled; enmax.com — generation; enmax.com — careers; alis.alberta.ca — power engineer | Company-stated work with source limits preserved |
| local connection | Company identifies Shepard Energy Centre in southeast Calgary; joint venture with Capital Power, operated by ENMAX.Source: enmax.com — natural gas fuelled; enmax.com — generation; enmax.com — careers; alis.alberta.ca — power engineer | Source-backed Calgary connection |
| course fit | The program explicitly uses thermal power plants and technological energy conversions. Combined-cycle equipment provides a concrete application; plant-specific performance is not asserted.Source: education.alberta.ca — science10.pdf | Editorial application of source-checked curriculum concepts |
| limits | Do not claim an available site visit, guaranteed co-op placement or product efficiency. Keep joint-venture ownership and ENMAX's operator role clear.Source: enmax.com — natural gas fuelled; enmax.com — generation; enmax.com — careers; alis.alberta.ca — power engineer | Scope of this example |
Solid green: the organization states it. Outlined: seen in a dated source. Dashed: our interpretation, not yet researched, or announced but not yet real.