B&W Celebrates Grand Opening of Advanced Waste-to-Energy Plant in West Palm Beach
June 29 2015 - 7:30AM
Business Wire
The Babcock & Wilcox Company (B&W) (NYSE:BWC) is pleased
to announce the grand opening of the Solid Waste Authority (SWA) of
Palm Beach County’s advanced waste-to-energy facility, the Palm
Beach Renewable Energy Facility 2 (PBREF2).
The facility, owned by the SWA and located in West Palm Beach,
Fla., was designed, manufactured and constructed by a consortium of
Babcock & Wilcox Power Generation Group, Inc. (B&W PGG) and
KBR, Inc. It is the cleanest and most-advanced power plant of its
kind in North America. The SWA and the consortium celebrated the
facility’s grand opening with a ribbon cutting ceremony on
Saturday, June 27.
B&W PGG designed and manufactured the plant’s three
mass-burn, waste-to-energy boilers, capable of generating up to 95
megawatts of electricity, and its environmental control system. The
plant features DynaGrate® air-cooled and water-cooled combustion
grates designed by B&W Vølund and will be operated under a 20
year agreement by B&W PGG’s subsidiary, Palm Beach Resource
Recovery Corporation, which has operated the adjacent PBREF 1 since
1989.
“We would like to thank and congratulate our customer, the SWA,
as well as our consortium partner KBR, for a job well-done,” said
B&W PGG Global Power Division Vice President Paul Scavuzzo.
“The PBREF 2 is truly B&W PGG’s flagship project in North
America and a shining example of the game-changing potential of
waste-to-energy technology.
“Plants like PBREF 2 not only provide valuable energy while
drastically reducing the amount of waste we bury, but are also a
valuable asset in reducing greenhouse potent gas emissions caused
by methane generated in landfills,” Scavuzzo said. “With advanced
emissions control systems of the kind we installed, these plants
can also generate that power cleanly.”
“The completion of this state-of-the-art facility represents the
culmination of a 10 year effort that virtually ensures to the
taxpayers of Palm Beach County that their solid waste will be
disposed of in the most efficient and environmentally sensitive
method available in the world today long into the future,” said SWA
Director of Engineering & Public Works, Ray Schauer. “PBREF 2
is a jewel in the crown of SWA’s award winning Integrated Solid
Waste Management System that will set the standard for performance
and environmental sustainability in North America.
“We truly appreciate the thousands of long hours and hard work
that it has taken to complete this world class project,” Schauer
said. “During the struggles of an economic downturn, our partners
delivered on their promise to spend locally, with more than $136
million spent with businesses in Palm Beach County and more than
$35 million spent with small businesses; and to hire locally, by
using more than 1.1 million hours of construction labor by Palm
Beach County residents.”
PBREF 2 is located on 24 acres adjacent to the county’s original
waste-to-energy facility, also designed and built by B&W. As
the most advanced and cleanest waste-to-energy power plant in North
America, PBREF 2 will provide power for an estimated 44,000 homes
and businesses while processing more than 1 million tons of
post-recycled municipal solid waste each year. This will reduce
reliance on the landfill by up to 90%, while also recycling an
estimated 27,000 tons of steel, aluminum, copper and other metals
annually.
B&W PGG’s emissions control technologies, including a
selective catalytic reduction (SCR) system, pulse jet fabric
filters, spray-dry absorbers (SDA) and continuous emissions
monitoring system (CEMS) are designed to capture and control
pollutants, including mercury and heavy metals, sulfur dioxide,
nitrogen oxides and particulates, within permitted levels.
About B&W
Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., The Babcock & Wilcox
Company is a leader in clean energy technology and services,
primarily for the nuclear, fossil and renewable power markets, as
well as a premier advanced technology and mission critical defense
contractor. B&W has locations worldwide and employs
approximately 11,600 people, in addition to joint venture employees
located at projects around the world. Follow us on Twitter
@BabcockWilcox and learn more at www.babcock.com.
About the SWA
Forty years ago, the Florida Legislature created the Solid Waste
Authority of Palm Beach County, a governmental agency, through the
Palm Beach County Solid Waste Act. Since then, SWA has dutifully
served Palm Beach County’s residents and implemented an award
winning Integrated Solid Waste Management System that takes care of
the processing and disposal of the County’s trash and recyclables.
This will be the second waste-to-energy facility the SWA
manages.
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Media Contact:The Babcock & Wilcox CompanyRyan
Cornell, 330-860-1345Media
Relationsrscornell@babcock.comorInvestor Contact:The Babcock
& Wilcox CompanyJenny Apker, 704-625-4937Vice President,
Treasurer and Investor Relationsinvestors@babcock.com