Veolia exports ‘Green’energy across the Charles River

Cambridge, USA
Veolia Energy North America / GenOn Energy, Inc.

ABOUT THE PROJECT

In 2005, Veolia Energy North America acquired a dying small-community district energy network in Cambridge, MA, which served world-class biotechnology leaders near the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.). The system is powered by the Kendall Station combined heat and power (CHP) plant owned by GenOn Energy, Inc. Veolia Energy installed a 14″ pipe across the Charles River that enabled the export of ‘green’ cogenerated steam. By displacing steam produced using natural gas and fuel oil with waste heat, Veolia Energy has reduced area emissions of carbon dioxide by 150,000 tons per year, which is the equivalent of removing nearly 25,000 vehicles from the streets of Boston each year. More than five years later, Veolia Energy’s Cambridge network is thriving. Veolia Energy provides process steam to biotechnology customers, and one of these customers achieved LEED Platinum certification in part because of the environmental sustainability of the steam network.

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PROJECT DETAILS

Category

Modernization

Status

Award of Excellence

Owner

Veolia Energy North America / GenOn Energy, Inc.

Collaborators

GenOn Energy, Inc. / MIT biotechnology community