Date: October 29, 2012
Source: News Room
Covanta Energy (Morristown, NJ) recently held a media "hard hat" tour of its waste-to-energy facility now under construction in Clarington, Ontario. The company says the $272-million facility is on schedule for completion in early 2014. Once operaing, the plant will convert 140,000 tons of post-recycled waste per year into 17.5 megawatts of electricity that will serve between 12,000 and 14,000 homes. Covanta claims the facility will be the cleanest and most efficient of its kind in North America and will go a long way to helping the Durham Region achieve its diversion goal of 70 percent. Durham made a commitment in 1999 not to open any new landfills in the region.
See also: "Covanta to Build and Operate $250 Million WTE Plant in Ontario," (www.wasteinfo.com/news/wbj20110823D.htm), August 17, 2011.
FROM WEBSITE
Durham/York Region - Ontario, Canada
Covanta will design, construct and operate a municipally-owned 140,000 tonne-per-year Energy-from-Waste (EfW) facility in Ontario's (Canada) Clarington Business Park in the Durham Region. Final permits were granted in June 2011, and the construction phase is currently underway. The project is estimated to cost approximately C$260 million and will be financed by the Durham and York regions. The project will serve the waste disposal needs of both regions and be the first North American EfW Greenfield project since 1992.
The Ontario Provincial Minister of the Environment gave an approval of the Environmental Assessment and Notice to Proceed with the undertaking of the project in November, 2010. In June 2011 the Ontario Ministry of the Environment (MOE) issued the Certificate of Approval for the project. In July 2011, a special council meeting in Durham resulted in approval of the co-owners agreement with York, and the project officially commenced with a target operation date of late 2014.
When operating at design capacity, the facility will be capable of producing 17.5 megawatts (MW) of clean renewable energy, enough to power approximately 10,000 homes. In the future, steam from the facility's 20 MW steam turbine could be utilized for district heating in an industrial park adjacent to the facility heating the equivalent of 2,200 homes. Electricity will be sold to the provincial grid as base load energy. The facility will also recover ferrous (e.g. steel) and non-ferrous (e.g. aluminum etc.) metals for recycling.
It is estimated that facility construction will create approximately 400 jobs over a three year period. Once operational, the facility is expected to employ approximately 35 - 40 skilled people on a full-time basis.
For more information, visit our dedicated project website at durhamyork.covantaenergy.com or www.durhamyorkwaste.ca/project_index.htm.
Covanta and the Durham York Energy Centre
Covanta will design, construct and operate the Durham York Energy Centre, a municipally-owned 140,000 tonne-per-year Energy-from-Waste (EfW) facility in the Clarington Business Park, in the Durham Region of Ontario, Canada.
This site provides information on construction progress, on schedule for completion at the end of 2012, jobs, Covanta's community involvement, as well as background information explaining the state of the art EfW technology Covanta will employ to operate the Durham York Energy Centre.
For detailed information on the history of the Durham York Energy Centre, please visit the Durham Region's waste management website - www.durhamyorkwaste.ca/project_index.htm
Overview
The Durham York Energy Centre will:
Process 140,000 tonnes of post recycled waste per year for the regions of Durham and York, which is approximately 35 truckloads a day.
Meet the most stringent environmental standards and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by keeping waste out of landfills, generating electricity, and recovering metals for recycling.
Generate 17.5 megawatts of renewable energy-enough to power 12,000 to 14,000 homes.
Create nearly 700 direct and indirect jobs during construction and more than 40 permanent plant operator jobs when the Centre comes online.
Reduce the amount of waste ending up in landfills.
Energy-from-Waste (EfW) is a state of the art technology that is better for our environment than traditional waste disposal and less environmentally intrusive than other renewable power projects. This presents a win-win for municipalities that employ EfW to manage their municipal solid waste: clean disposal of garbage while generating renewable electricity. In addition, EfW is able to recycle otherwise unrecoverable metals by retrieving them from the ash that remains at the end of the process, further improving recycling rates. The remaining ash can be used as filler in construction materials such as concrete or roads, and used as cover for landfills rather than newly mined gravel. To learn more about the state-of-the-art EfW technology that Covanta is constructing for the Durham York Energy Centre, read Durham York Energy Centre - Not an Incinerator.
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