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In the depths of the 75-year-old Kendall Cogeneration Station along the Charles River in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a clean-heating transformation is underway.

For years, the facility has burned natural gas to produce steam for Boston and Cambridge’s century-old underground heating system. Now, it’s aiming to become a clean ​“district energy” system, capable of delivering warmth during bitter New England winters without baking the planet — a first for a citywide network in America.

Last year, Vicinity Energy, the owner and operator of the steam heating network, finished installing a 42-megawatt electric-powered boiler at the Kendall facility. Earlier this year, the company confirmed plans for its next step: installing a 35-megawatt industrial heat pump from Everllence, a German energy systems manufacturer formerly known as MAN Energy Solutions.

“That project was greenlit this summertime,” Vicinity Energy CEO Kevin Hagerty told Canary Media, and demolition to make way for the new heat pump has already begun.

“We’re anticipating that being completed midway through 2028. We’ll turn the heat pump on and turn the Charles River into a renewable energy resource,” Hagerty said.

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