Veolia Energy North America has extended its 28-year partnership with Wheelabrator Technologies, a renewable waste-to-energy company with operations in Baltimore since 1985. The steam generated by renewable energy at Wheelabrator’s Baltimore facility supplies nearly 50 percent of the steam Veolia delivers through its central Baltimore district energy system.
Wheelabrator converts post-recycled everyday household waste from Baltimore City, Baltimore County and other areas of Maryland into steam. Wheelabrator’s Baltimore waste-to-energy facility reduces the volume of incoming waste by 90 percent.
In May 2011, Maryland enacted a law that puts waste-to-energy plants, including the Wheelabrator facility, on par with solar and wind in the state’s renewable energy standard. The state has a goal of generating 20 percent of its energy from Tier 1 renewable resources by 2022 and intends to achieve that goal through as much in-state generation as possible. In addition to delivering heating and cooling, Veolia’s district energy network also includes an ice storage system that delivers more than 32,000 tons of cooling capacity and about 45 million ton-hours of low-temperature chilled water to customers.
In 2013, Veolia announced it was purchasing a Massachusetts cogeneration plant to deliver energy to Veolia’s customers in Boston and Cambridge.