Vicinity to install MAN's Industrial-scale Electric Pump to provide District Heating in Massachusetts
A Boston-area power generation facility is planning to utilize a low-temperature-source electric heat pump to create steam for nearby commercial and industrial customers, instead of using coal, gas or some other carbon-emitting resource.
District energy provider Vicinity Energy will partner with German-based MAN Energy Solutions on the industrial-scale heat pump system. It will be installed at Vicinity’s Kendall Station facility in Cambridge, Massachusetts by 2026.
The new system, developed by MAN and drawn from proven examples in Europe, the company says, will be the largest heat pump complex in the U.S. The electricity will be generated by clean energy resources, according to Vicinity.
“It will be powered by renewable electricity to safely and efficiently harvest energy from the Charles River, returning it at a lower temperature,” Vicinity Energy CEO Bill DiCroce said. “We have made a lot of progress harvesting the energy of the sun and wind. . . This is a big deal in district energy’s efforts to decarbonize cities. . .”
Heat and cooling of buildings and homes accounts for about 40 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions, according to various estimates. District energy systems provide steam and can offer combined heat and power capacity to achieve those services.
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At the Kendall station last year, Vicinity started its electrification strategy by deconstructing a steam turbine. The company will install an electric boiler in its place, and begin supplying its eSteam to customers by 2024.
Earlier this year, Vicinity announced a long-term agreement with real estate developer IQHQ to provide renewable-generated eSteam to IQHQ’s developments in the Fenway neighborhood district of Boston.
“District heating systems are one of the most efficient and sustainable ways to provide heat to commercial buildings and industrial facilities,” Uwe Lauber, CEO of MAN Energy Solutions. “Hence the task is to reduce district heating systems’ dependence on fossil fuel-fired heat soures. Our heat pump technology can do that.”
Vicinity plans to scrap fossil power and install similar electrification processes at its other 11 locations throughout the U.S. in coming years.
