Veolia awarded 17-year waste-to-energy contract

The Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners in Clearwater, Fla. has awarded a 17-year waste-to-energy (WTE) contract to Veolia ES Waste-to-Energy in a deal worth an estimated $615 million.

The Pinellas WTE facility, which is owned by the county, began commercial operations in 1983. It consists of three boilers, each of which is capable of burning 1,050 tons of solid waste per day. These are the largest WTE boilers in the United States. Using steam from the boilers to run turbines, the plant generates about 75 megawatts of electricity per hour, enough to power approximately 45,000 homes and businesses every day.

Veolia ES WTE, a division of Lombard, Ill.-based Veolia Environmental Services North America, manages 10 other WTE facilities in the United States. It will assume control of the Pinellas facility on May 6, 2007, when the current operator’s contract expires.