Other Renewable Energy Projects

Wood Biomass Facilities

Covanta’s eight wood waste electrical generating biomass plants can produce over 191 megawatts (MW) of renewable electricity. These facilities are equipped with modern air pollution control equipment and are monitored continuously to ensure that they meet stringent Federal and State air emissions permit limits.

Renewable power is generated by utilising wood fuel from a variety of sources including logging debris, logs from forest thinning, wood waste from lumber mills, municipal landscaping, agricultural waste such as nut shells and fruit pits, and green waste (grass clippings, hedge trimmings etc.) collected from the communities we operate in. Fuel gathered in this way also contributes to a removal of accumulated fuel available on the forest floor and a reduction in wildfire potential. The use of this fuel and the green waste fuel also reduces the amount of open burning conducted in our communities, significantly reducing carbon monoxide smoke and other air pollutants released by open burning.

Biomass facilities and other Energy-from-Waste projects offer numerous community benefits such as:
• energy generation diversification
• significant reductions in greenhouse gases emissions
• diversion of wood waste materials from landfills
• reducing our dependence on fossil fuel for electricity generation
• By utilising wood waste from the forest floor as fuel, biomass facilities make a significant contribution in reducing the potential for forest fires.   

Covanta Mendota Power, Mendota, CA

Owned and operated by Covanta Energy since 2007, Covanta Mendota Power is a 25 MW biomass circulating fluidised bed (CFB) boiler power plant located on 80 acres in an agricultural area of the Central Valley of California, approximately 40 miles west of Fresno, California. The facility uses wood waste diverted from landfills and agricultural wood derived from whole orchard removal as well as miscellaneous agricultural residue generated in processing produce, among many others. Covanta Mendota processes 544 tonnes of biomass materials into energy each day. The facility, owned and operated by Covanta Energy since 2007, generates 25 MW hours of renewable electricity. The facility’s energy generation helps power 25,000 homes on a daily basis.

Covanta Delano Power, Delano, CA

Farms in Kern and Tulare counties surrounding Covanta Delano generate over 526,000 tonnes of wood waste annually, mostly from almond, peach, and nectarine orchards. Covanta Delano utilises these waste materials to produce renewable energy offering farmers a sustainable solution to open-field burning. Equipped with the latest air pollution control technology, Covanta Delano is a major contributor to clean air preservation in California's Central Valley. In fact, by reducing 96 percent of the pollutants released in open-field burning, local air quality management officials have called Covanta Delano "a stationary air pollution control device."

In addition, Kern County’s landfills recycle approximately 40 percent of all urban wood waste generated in the unincorporated county. Overall, the facility processes nearly 1,066 tonnes of biomass waste materials each day, generating more than 50 MW hours of electricity.

Covanta Mount Lassen Power, Westwood, CA

Mount Lassen Power is a biomass facility that receives saw mill waste and forest residues from Lassen and Plumas counties and surrounding areas. The facility provides a market for all of the products removed in authorised forest thinning, allowing forest management practices to improve forest health and lower fire potential. The facility processes more than 245 tonnes of biomass waste materials each day, converting the material into approximately 11.5 MW hours of electricity, enough to meet the needs of 11,500 homes. The facility has been owned and operated by Covanta Energy since 1997. This facility is currently offline.

Covanta Burney Mountain Power, Burney, CA

Beginning commercial operations in 1984, the Burney Mountain Power facility, owned and operated by Covanta Energy, processes nearly 254 tonnes of biomass waste materials each day and converts this fuel into renewable electric power. The facility is the sister plant to Mount Lassen Power and services Shasta County and the surrounding areas. The primary fuels for the facility are forest residue, mill residue and whole tree chips. Operating at full capacity, the facility generates approximately 11 MW of electricity sold to Pacific Gas and Electric. This facility is currently offline.

Covanta Pacific Oroville Power, Oroville, CA

Owned and operated by Covanta Energy since 1997, Covanta Pacific Oroville Power facility processes more than 454 tonnes of biomass wood waste materials each day. The materials are diverted from landfills and used as a fuel. It also receives approximately 63,500 dry tonnes per year of agricultural green waste that helps the facility produce enough clean, renewable energy on a daily basis to generate approximately 16.5 MW of electricity which is enough to power 16,500 homes.

Covanta Pacific Ultra power Chinese Station, Jamestown, CA

Covanta Pacific Ultra power Chinese Station began commercial operation in 1986, processes 454 tonnes of forest residue each day such as wood chips, agricultural byproducts and unadulterated urban wood. The facility generates approximately 19.8 MW hours of electricity.

Covanta West Enfield Power Station, West Enfield, ME

Acquired by Covanta Energy in 2008, the West Enfield Power Station began commercial operation in November 1987. The facility takes wood waste from forest operations, thinnings and sawmills and combusts it in specially designed boilers to generate renewable energy. The wood waste is reduced to an inert ash residue that is approximately 3 percent of its original volume. The ash residue can be used as fertiliser, soil amendment or bedding for farm animals. The facility processes processes almost 500 dry tonnes of biomass waste materials a day, producing 24.5 MW hours of electricity for ISO-New England, a regional transmission organisation serving Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont.

Covanta Jonesboro Power Station, Jonesboro, ME

Jonesboro began commercial operation in November 1987 and was acquired by Covanta Energy in 2008. Powered by fuel that consists of wood chips, bark, tree limbs and tops, mill residue and other clean forest-related biomass, the facility generates up to 24.5 MW of renewable energy sold to ISO New England and also qualifies for Massachusetts Class I renewable energy certificates. The facility processes almost 500 dry tonnes of biomass waste materials each day, producing 24.5 MW hours of electricity to power 24,500 homes daily. This facility is currently offline.

Hydroelectric Projects 

Subsidiaries of Covanta Holding Corporation own a 50 percent equity interest in two run-of-river hydroelectric facilities – Koma Kolshan and Weeks Falls in Washington-- which have a combined gross generating capacity of 17 MW (Koma is a 12 MW plant; Weeks Falls is 5 MW). Both facilities sell energy and capacity to a local utility under long-term energy contracts.

Biogas Projects 

Subsidiaries of Covanta Holding Corporation own and operate three biogas projects in California and Massachusetts. The projects are located on landfills owned by third parties. Each project generates electric power using methane gas recovered from landfills. The projects are comprised of a “collection system” (a series of gas wells interconnected by a pipeline system) that is connected to a “conversion system” consisting of compressors and internal combustion engines that drive electric generators. The electricity generated by these projects is sold to various utilities.

Otay Project

Located in San Diego County, CA
Gross generation: 7.4 MW  

Haverhill

Located in Haverhill, MA
Gross generation: 1.6 MW  

Stockton Project

Located in Stockton, CA
Gross generation: 0.8 MW