The Solid Waste Authority of Palm Beach County (Fla.) (SWA) will celebrate the opening of its new waste-to-energy facility with four days of events beginning Wednesday, June 24. The ceremonies end with a public ribbon cutting.
SWA operates an award-winning waste management system that provides services for one and a half million people in southern Florida. The Palm Beach Renewable Energy Facility 2 is the first new facility of its kind built in nearly 20 years, and is considered the country’s cleanest waste-to-energy plant.
The facility will:
- Reduce landfilled waste in Palm Beach County by 85%;
- Generate enough electricity to power more than 40,000 homes;
- Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 800 million lb per year;
- Process more than 1 million tons of garbage per year; and
- Recycle more than 30,000 tons of metals each year.
To advance SWA’s integrated solid waste master plan and extend the life of its landfill, SWA needed more combustion capacity at its renewable energy park. CDM Smith helped SWA design and build the new facility, which will process 3,000 of tons of waste per day, increasing SWA’s capacity to 5,000 tons.
As a subcontractor to KBR (working with Babcock &Wilcox in a consortium agreement), CDM Smith provided civil site design-build services, and architectural, electrical, structural, geotechnical and mechanical design-build services for several of the new facility’s buildings, including the refuse tipping building, the ash management facility, the warehouse/maintenance building, and the LEED® platinum educational center.
Events include:
- June 24, Government Officials Day from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. with an exclusive tour for government officials;
- June 25, Guest Day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. with an exclusive tour for CDM Smith guests; and
- June 27, Grand Opening and Public Ribbon Cutting from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., ribbon cutting at 11 a.m.
Source: CDM Smith
