Vicinity Press Release
Summary
Vicinity Energy, a national decarbonization leader with the most extensive portfolio of district energy systems, launches eSteam™, a new innovation designed to rapidly decarbonize the highest source of emissions in major cities, commercial buildings. The company is the first in the U.S. to electrify its operations, offering renewable thermal energy by installing electric boilers, industrial-scale heat pumps, and thermal storage at its central facilities starting in Boston and Cambridge, with its other districts to follow.
Vicinity Energy centrally produces and distributes steam, hot water, and chilled water to over 230 million square feet of building space nationwide. To offer cost-competitive, renewable thermal energy to its customers, Vicinity will leverage and build upon its existing infrastructure, including its extensive network of underground pipes, electric substations, and transmission lines, which are notoriously hard to site and permit. Further, Vicinity has access to wholesale, renewable power through the electric grid versus commercial buildings that purchase retail power, typically 2 to 3 times more expensive. Coupling the existing infrastructure with favorable pricing, Vicinity’s innovative approach to electrifying its operations will provide customers with a cost-effective decarbonization tool to meet sustainability goals without expensive onsite retrofits or significant capital investments.
By electrifying its operations and offering renewable thermal, eSteam™’s benefits include:
- The ability to leverage district energy with guaranteed carbon-free emissions
- Total flexibility in the amount selected and the renewable electricity source used to produce eSteam™
- An affordable, cost-effective energy option to achieve sustainability targets
- Carbon-neutral energy without substantial capital investments or ongoing, in-building
- maintenance of equipment
- Additional potential points for LEED® and ENERGY STAR® certifications
- Continued reliability and resiliency from the district energy system
Vicinity’s eSteam™ will provide customers with another option to cleanly heat and cool their buildings. Commercial buildings will no longer need natural gas boilers, eliminating unregulated gas stacks and unmonitored carbon emissions in our neighborhoods, reducing carbon and improving overall air quality.
“We’re thrilled to be the first district energy company in the United States to bring renewable thermal energy to our customers. Our operations are incredibly flexible, so we can quickly pivot to electrification and offer an innovative, affordable, carbon-free path for commercial building owners with eSteam™,” said Bill DiCroce, president and chief executive officer of Vicinity Energy. “This is game-changing for our communities.”.
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