Sustainable energy services provider Veolia Energy North America and I Squared Capital will purchase a Massachusetts cogeneration plant from NRG North America.
The 256 MW Kendall Station, located in Cambridge, Mass., uses natural gas as a primary fuel source to produce electrical and steam energy. A planned reconfiguration of the facility, including completion of Veolia’s additional 7,000-foot steam pipeline extension, will deliver energy to Veolia’s customers in Boston and Cambridge.
The terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Veolia will provide operations and management services as part of the acquisition, which is expected to close this year pending regulatory approval by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Veolia described the purcahse as “core” to its Boston area green energy strategy.
In February, Veolia held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to commission two natural gas-fired, rapid-response boilers. The boilers are part of a multi-million-dollar investment that aims to convert Philadelphia’s district energy network to 100 percent steam. The rapid-response boilers replace an old, oil-fired boiler, increasing the overall efficiency of steam service in the central business and University of Pennsylvania districts of Philadelphia.
In Philadelphia, Veolia Energy’s district energy network serves more than 500 buildings in the central business and university city districts from three steam production facilities and one chilled water facility. One of Veolia Energy’s three Philadelphia steam production facilities is a 163 MW combined heat and power facility, which recycles the waste heat from its power generation process into useful thermal energy to heat Philadelphia’s downtown district. The simultaneous production of electric power and steam significantly reduces both the resulting air emissions and the total amount of fuel burn that would otherwise be required from the separate production of these two forms of energy.