Covanta moves forward with plans to build Ontario plant

Covanta Holding Corp. revealed that its subsidiary, Covanta Durham York Renewable Energy Limited Partnership, has been given the green light to begin constructing a new $250 million, 140,000 ton-per-year waste-to-energy plant in Clarington, Ontario. Covanta will design, build and operate the project, on which design work has already begun.

Construction is scheduled to begin this fall and be completed by early 2014. Once operational, the mass-burn plant will be capable of producing 17.5 megawatts of clean energy – enough to power 10,000 homes. Steam generated by the facility could be utilized for district heating in an industrial park adjacent to the facility, heating the equivalent of 2,200 homes.

The Durham York energy-from-waste facility will serve as an integral component of the comprehensive solid waste management program of the Regions of Durham and York. The facility will only process municipally collected household waste left over after the Regions’ aggressive diversion efforts, such as recycling and composting.

In April 2009, following an extensive competitive procurement process and evaluation review, the Durham Regional Council selected Covanta from a number of competing bids as the preferred vendor to build, operate and maintain an energy-from-waste facility.

The project received a certificate of approval from the Ontario Ministry of the Environment on June 28, 2011 that covers all operational requirements and conditions. The emissions control technology at the Durham York facility will establish it as one of the cleanest energy-from-waste facilities in the world. It is estimated that facility construction will create approximately 400 jobs over a three year period and once operational, is expected to employ approximately 40 skilled workers on a full-time basis.