Vicinity Energy

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Vicinity Energy is the largest district energy provider in the United States. Headquartered in Boston, it is a subsidiary of Antin Infrastructure Partners. It launched at the beginning of 2020 on Antin's purchase of Veolia's U.S. district energy assets in 11 cities for $1.25 billion, and has acquired further systems since. [1] [2]

Contents

Vicinity Energy's systems include:

Later acquisitions:

Decarbonization progress

In April 2022, The Boston Globe reported Vicinity was launching eSteam™, a first-of-its-kind innovation in the United States designed to rapidly decarbonize the highest source of emissions in commercial buildings. [14] The company became the first in the U.S. to electrify its operations, offering renewable thermal energy by installing electric boilers, industrial-scale heat pumps, and thermal storage at its central facilities starting in Boston and Cambridge, with its other facilities around the country to follow. [15] [16] The company is committed to reaching net zero carbon emissions across all of its operations by 2050 [17] or sooner.

In April, 2023, Vicinity Energy and announced a partnership with the Augsburg, Germany-based organization MAN Energy Solutions to collaborate in developing low-temperature source heat pump systems for steam generation. Vicinity plans to install an industrial-scale heat pump complex at its Cambridge facility, and once installed, it will be powered by renewable electricity to harvest energy from the Charles River safely and efficiently, returning it to a lower temperature so as not to harm the river’s environment. [18]

In November 2023, Vicinity announced the arrival of a 42MW industrial-scale electric boiler [19] at the Kendall Square facility in Cambridge. The electrode boiler was provided by Precision Boilers (Thermon). After passing a factory acceptance test, the boiler was delivered to our Kendall facility to be prepared for installation. Once operational, the boiler will enable the immediate production of eSteam™, Vicinity’s award-winning carbon-free thermal energy product [20]

Leadership team

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electricity generation</span> Process of generating electrical power

Electricity generation is the process of generating electric power from sources of primary energy. For utilities in the electric power industry, it is the stage prior to its delivery to end users or its storage, using for example, the pumped-storage method.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heat pump</span> System that transfers heat from one space to another

A heat pump is a device that uses work to transfer heat from a cool space to a warm space by transferring thermal energy using a refrigeration cycle, cooling the cool space and warming the warm space. In cold weather, a heat pump can move heat from the cool outdoors to warm a house; the pump may also be designed to move heat from the house to the warmer outdoors in warm weather. As they transfer heat rather than generating heat, they are more energy-efficient than other ways of heating or cooling a home.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geothermal energy</span> Thermal energy generated and stored in the Earth

Geothermal energy is thermal energy extracted from the Earth's crust. It combines energy from the formation of the planet and from radioactive decay. Geothermal energy has been exploited as a source of heat and/or electric power for millennia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solar thermal energy</span> Technology using sunlight for heat

Solar thermal energy (STE) is a form of energy and a technology for harnessing solar energy to generate thermal energy for use in industry, and in the residential and commercial sectors. Solar thermal collectors are classified by the United States Energy Information Administration as low-, medium-, or high-temperature collectors. Low-temperature collectors are generally unglazed and used to heat swimming pools or to heat ventilation air. Medium-temperature collectors are also usually flat plates but are used for heating water or air for residential and commercial use.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Water heating</span> Thermodynamic process that uses energy sources to heat water

Water heating is a heat transfer process that uses an energy source to heat water above its initial temperature. Typical domestic uses of hot water include cooking, cleaning, bathing, and space heating. In industry, hot water and water heated to steam have many uses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cogeneration</span> Simultaneous generation of electricity and useful heat

Cogeneration or combined heat and power (CHP) is the use of a heat engine or power station to generate electricity and useful heat at the same time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central heating</span> Type of heating system

A central heating system provides warmth to a number of spaces within a building from one main source of heat. It is a component of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems, which can both cool and warm interior spaces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hydrogen economy</span> Using hydrogen to decarbonize sectors which are hard to electrify

The hydrogen economy is an umbrella term for the roles hydrogen can play alongside low-carbon electricity to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. The aim is to reduce emissions where cheaper and more energy-efficient clean solutions are not available. In this context, hydrogen economy encompasses the production of hydrogen and the use of hydrogen in ways that contribute to phasing-out fossil fuels and limiting climate change.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Enwave</span>

Enwave Energy Corporation is a Canadian multinational energy company based in Toronto that focuses on sustainable district energy including heating, cooling, hot water, combined heat and power, and geothermal energy systems. It is one of the largest district energy systems in North America and has been referred as the leading energy district system with 17 heating plants, 21 chilled water plants and ice on coil storage tanks. It serves over 700 customers including commercial properties, developers, municipalities, health care, educational centres and residential units.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">District heating</span> Centralized heat distribution system

District heating is a system for distributing heat generated in a centralized location through a system of insulated pipes for residential and commercial heating requirements such as space heating and water heating. The heat is often obtained from a cogeneration plant burning fossil fuels or biomass, but heat-only boiler stations, geothermal heating, heat pumps and central solar heating are also used, as well as heat waste from factories and nuclear power electricity generation. District heating plants can provide higher efficiencies and better pollution control than localized boilers. According to some research, district heating with combined heat and power (CHPDH) is the cheapest method of cutting carbon emissions, and has one of the lowest carbon footprints of all fossil generation plants.

Micro combined heat and power, micro-CHP, μCHP or mCHP is an extension of the idea of cogeneration to the single/multi family home or small office building in the range of up to 50 kW. Usual technologies for the production of heat and power in one common process are e.g. internal combustion engines, micro gas turbines, stirling engines or fuel cells.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capitol Power Plant</span> Fossil-fuel burning power plant in Washington, DC

The Capitol Power Plant is a fossil-fuel burning power plant which provides steam and chilled water for the United States Capitol, the Supreme Court, the Library of Congress and 19 other buildings in the Capitol Complex. Located at 25 E St SE in southeast Washington, D.C., the CPP was the only coal-burning power plant in the District of Columbia, and it now it mostly uses natural gas. The plant has been serving the Capitol since 1910, and is under the administration of the Architect of the Capitol.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Condensing steam locomotive</span> Type of locomotive designed to recover exhaust steam

A condensing steam locomotive is a type of locomotive designed to recover exhaust steam, either in order to improve range between taking on boiler water, or to reduce emission of steam inside enclosed spaces. The apparatus takes the exhaust steam that would normally be used to produce a draft for the firebox, and routes it through a heat exchanger, into the boiler water tanks. Installations vary depending on the purpose, design and the type of locomotive to which it is fitted. It differs from the usual closed cycle condensing steam engine, in that the function of the condenser is primarily either to recover water, or to avoid excessive emissions to the atmosphere, rather than maintaining a vacuum to improve both efficiency and power.

Renewable heat is an application of renewable energy referring to the generation of heat from renewable sources; for example, feeding radiators with water warmed by focused solar radiation rather than by a fossil fuel boiler. Renewable heat technologies include renewable biofuels, solar heating, geothermal heating, heat pumps and heat exchangers. Insulation is almost always an important factor in how renewable heating is implemented.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southeast Steam Plant</span> Heat and power plant in Minnesota

The Southeast Steam Plant, formerly known as the Twin City Rapid Transit Company Steam Power Plant, is a combined heat and power plant on the Mississippi River in the city of Minneapolis, Minnesota in the United States owned by the University of Minnesota.

Energy recycling is the energy recovery process of using energy that would normally be wasted, usually by converting it into electricity or thermal energy. Undertaken at manufacturing facilities, power plants, and large institutions such as hospitals and universities, it significantly increases efficiency, thereby reducing energy costs and greenhouse gas pollution simultaneously. The process is noted for its potential to mitigate global warming profitably. This work is usually done in the form of combined heat and power or waste heat recovery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steam</span> Water in the gas phase

Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, often mixed with air and/or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Steam that is saturated or superheated is invisible; however, wet steam, a visible mist or aerosol of water droplets, is often referred to as "steam".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Waste heat recovery unit</span> Energy recovery heat exchanger

A waste heat recovery unit (WHRU) is an energy recovery heat exchanger that transfers heat from process outputs at high temperature to another part of the process for some purpose, usually increased efficiency. The WHRU is a tool involved in cogeneration. Waste heat may be extracted from sources such as hot flue gases from a diesel generator, steam from cooling towers, or even waste water from cooling processes such as in steel cooling.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matt O'Malley</span> American politician

Matthew Joseph O'Malley is an American politician and businessman who served six terms a member of the Boston City Council. He was elected as the District 6 representative in a special election on November 16, 2010, and was re-elected in 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2017. His district included the neighborhoods of West Roxbury and Jamaica Plain, parts of Roslindale and Roxbury, and the Back of the Hill. As the most senior member of the council, O'Malley succeeded Kim Janey as acting council president after Janey became acting mayor of Boston in March 2021. In late 2021, he became the chief sustainability officer of Vicinity Energy, a U.S. district energy subsidiary of Antin Infrastructure Partners.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kendall Cogeneration Station</span>

The Kendall facility is an energy facility owned by Vicinity Energy that produces steam and electricity to the cities of Boston and Cambridge. Owned by GenOn Energy in 2012, in 2013 Veolia Energy North America purchased the plant from NRG Energy. In 2020, Antin Infrastructure Partners acquired Veolia Energy North America and renamed it Vicinity Energy.

References

  1. "Antin strikes deal for Veolia's US district energy business at USD 1.25bn EV". Inframation. 12 August 2019. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  2. "Vicinity is the Largest Provider of District Energy in North America". Vicinity. 27 January 2020. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  3. "Vicinity to Provide Heat and Hot Water to America's Oldest Theatre". Vicinity. 17 December 2020.
  4. "The Green Way for The Bay State to Keep Warm". Vicinity. 6 October 2021.
  5. "Vicinity Shifts Boston Facilities to 100% Emissions-Free Electricity". Vicinity. 16 December 2021.
  6. "Vicinity Secures Contract to Expand District Energy in Kansas City". Vicinity. 8 September 2021.
  7. Stafford, Diane (July 21, 2016). "Energy company that heats and cools downtown Kansas City is going green". Kansas City Star. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  8. "Vicinity Energy Cuts Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Grand Rapids". Vicinity. 18 August 2021.
  9. Balaskovitz, Andy (July 5, 2020). "New GR steam plant owner eyes expansion amid downtown growth". mibiz.com. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  10. "Vicinity Energy Provides Green Steam to Walters Art Museum". Vicinity. 3 March 2021.
  11. "Vicinity Extends District Energy Contract with Mercy Medical Center". Vicinity. 30 March 2021. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  12. "Vicinity Acquires Central Energy Plant Serving Watergate Complex". Vicinity. 17 June 2020.
  13. "Vicinity Acquires District Energy System Serving Morgantown". Vicinity. 6 July 2020. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  14. "Vineyard Wind investor branching out". The Boston Globe. April 7, 2022. Retrieved 2022-04-15.
  15. "Vicinity Energy Launches Carbon-free Renewable Energy Technology in Boston". Boston Real Estate Times. 2022-04-12. Retrieved 2022-04-15.
  16. "Vicinity Energy Launches ESteam to Decarbonize Commercial Buildings". Environment + Energy Leader. 2022-04-07. Retrieved 2022-04-15.
  17. "Clean Energy Future". Vicinity. Retrieved 2024-02-06.
  18. "Vicinity and MAN Energy Partner on Industrial-Scale Heat Pump". Vicinity. 2023-04-05. Retrieved 2024-02-06.
  19. "Vicinity Energy Announces Arrival of 42MW Electric Boiler". Vicinity. 2023-11-28. Retrieved 2024-02-06.
  20. "Vicinity Recognized with Chamber of Commerce Visionary Award". Vicinity. 2023-12-12. Retrieved 2024-02-06.
  21. "Who We Are | Vicinity Energy". Vicinity. Retrieved 2024-02-06.
  22. "Who We Are | Vicinity Energy". Vicinity. Retrieved 2024-02-06.
  23. "Who We Are | Vicinity Energy". Vicinity. Retrieved 2024-02-06.
  24. "Who We Are | Vicinity Energy". Vicinity. Retrieved 2024-02-06.
  25. "Who We Are | Vicinity Energy". Vicinity. Retrieved 2024-02-06.
  26. "Who We Are | Vicinity Energy". Vicinity. Retrieved 2024-02-06.
  27. "Who We Are | Vicinity Energy". Vicinity. Retrieved 2024-02-06.
  28. "Boston City Council President Matt O'Malley Joins Vicinity as Chief Sustainability Officer". Vicinity. 3 December 2021. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  29. "Who We Are | Vicinity Energy". Vicinity. Retrieved 2024-02-06.