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Some of the steam goes toward generating energy, with a capacity of 64 megawatts of generation, and the rest goes into Veolia Energy’s downtown steam loop — the same system that exploded under Eutaw Street last month.BRESCO has burned more than 700,000 tons of garbage in each of the past four years, largely from Baltimore City and Baltimore County, but also from Anne Arundel and Howard counties, according to the Northeast Maryland Waste Disposal Authority.The city sent 161,000 tons of garbage to the incinerator last year, about 80 percent of its refuse, public works officials said.That combustion produced more than 1,100 tons of nitrogen oxides last year, pollution that frequently helps trigger air quality alerts across the region on hot summer days. A similar facility Montgomery County used to process much of its garbage emits half as much nitrogen oxide because it is newer and more easily upgraded.In comparison, the coal, oil and gas units at the H.A. Wagner Generating Station in Pasadena emitted 3,100 tons of nitrogen oxides in 2015. The plant has a generating capacity of 976 megawatts.The Chesapeake Bay Foundation and Environmental Integrity Project have stressed health and environmental harms in asking MDE not to accept the improvements initially proposed by Wheelabrator. They emphasized that the incinerator receives subsidies from electricity ratepayers for generating what is considered renewable energy under a state law, estimating that BRESCO collected as much as $3.5 million through the sale of renewable energy certificates in 2015.“They’re getting a fair amount of money for producing ostensibly clean energy,”... (Baltimore Sun)
Environmental Protection (DEEP) failed to select any of the dozen or so fuel cell projects — some looking to find buyers for as much as 20 megawatts of power — that bid into a competitive selection process for utility contracts.The fuel cell projects lost out because they submitted higher-priced bids than solar and wind developers.For example, DEEP recently disclosed that the average cost of the highest-ranked fuel cell bid was 14.3 cents per kilowatt hour, higher than solar (8.1 cents per kilowatt hour) and wind (9.9 cents per kilowatt hour).The new state law, originally proposed by Malloy, puts out to bid new long-term utility contracts with different selection criteria.In particular, it excludes solar projects, leaving the competition to fuel cells, wind power, landfill methane, anaerobic digestion and certain hydropower and biomass facilities.And while bidders will still be competing on price, new additional scoring criteria could give a leg up to fuel cells.For example, greater weight will be given to projects that improve distribution system reliability; fuel cells are considered a steadier source of power than many other renewables like wind and solar, which depend on weather conditions to produce energy.It's not yet clear when DEEP would open up the new bidding process but the agency could select as much as 1,100 gigawatt hours worth of generation, which equals 4 percent of the total electricity distributed annually by utilities Eversource and Avangrid.Utilities could finance or even own an additional 30 megawatts of fuel cells."The short answer is it's a big opportunity," said Arthur "Chip" Bottone, CEO of FuelCell Energy.The new bidding process could revive the prospects of a 63-megawatt fuel cell park proposed in Beacon Falls, which was sidelined last year after DEEP didn't select it for any long-term utility contracts, Bottone said.Torrington's O&G Industries and FuelCell Energy are construction partners on the proposed project.David Giordano, Doosan's manager of government affairs, said the new law represents "another opportunity for us to do multi-megawatt projects."Doosan was part of an unsuccessful bid last year to develop a data center and 20-megawatt fuel cell park in New Britain."We were very disappointed last time when we weren't selected," Giordano said. "I hope this makes a difference."Fuel cell advocates say supporting the industry would benefit Connecticut's economy by preserving and growing jobs in the state and generating additional tax revenues.Greater reliance on fuel cells and other renewable energy sources, however, could result in higher energy costs for consumers.Waste-to-energyFor waste-to-energy plants, Connecticut's move away from landfilling its non-recyclable trash has made it the nation's most prolific incinerator. But competitively priced natural gas has driven down prices waste-to-energy plants can fetch for the power they generate, putting pressure on their bottom lines.In addition, when ... (Hartford Business)
