Framingham Company Lands $795M Federal Contract

A Framingham energy company has won a $795 million contract with the U.S. Department of Energy to build biomass facilities in Aiken, S.C., calling the job the largest-ever federal energy efficiency project

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Framingham Company Lands $795M Federal Contract

By David Riley/Daily News staff
The MetroWest Daily News
Posted Jun 22, 2009

FRAMINGHAM A Framingham energy company has won a $795 million contract with the U.S. Department of Energy to build biomass facilities in Aiken, S.C., calling the job the largest-ever federal energy efficiency project.

Ameresco Inc., headquartered on Speen Street, largely hires people on-site for its projects, but the size of this one may mean new positions here, too, a company official said yesterday.

"I'm sure there will be a need for additional accounting folks and some technical people here in Framingham," said Bill Cunningham, vice president of corporate government relations.

The company says it has more than 550 employees, including 100 in Framingham, and has added about 170 workers nationwide in the past year.

Ameresco will finance, design, build and run a biomass cogeneration facility and two smaller biomass heating plants at the Department of Energy's Savannah River Site. The project will replace a coal-fired plant that is not complying with state or federal environmental rules, Cunningham said.

The new facility would run largely on plant refuse left behind after timber harvesting and a small portion of rubber tires, bringing the plant back into compliance, Cunningham said.

"It's a very creative project," he said.

The Department of Energy will pay nothing up front - Ameresco will finance the project and be paid a percentage of the site's annual energy savings.

"We have to guarantee the savings," Cunningham said.

In a written statement, Ameresco President and CEO George Sakellaris said savings in the first year will exceed $34 million. Greenhouse gas emissions will drop by 400 tons per year of particulate matter, 3,500 tons of sulfur dioxide and 100,000 tons of carbon, the company said.

The project will also trim annual water consumption by 1.4 billion gallons and eliminate coal burning by 161,000 tons a year, the company said. Ameresco says the project will create about 800 construction jobs and 125 permanent jobs.

Ameresco also has worked on federal installations and military bases, Cunningham said. It will soon kick off a $60 million project to work on energy efficiency and water conservation for the Boston Housing Authority, and has worked for housing authorities in San Francisco, New York and Chicago.

Cunningham said Ameresco is the largest privately owned, independent energy services firm in North America.

(David Riley can be reached at 508-626-3919

Additional Information

Web Site: http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/x99386229/Framingham-company-lands-795M-federal-contract

Category: Forestry>Biomass Energy

Region: South Carolina

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