Covanta to close two biomass power plants

Covanta Energy Corp. has announced that it will soon close two of its  U.S. wood-fired biomass power plants. 

The plants are located in West Enfield and Jonesboro, Maine, towns that are roughly 110 miles apart.

James Regan confirmed with Biomass Magazine that Covanta plans to take the facilities offline at the end of March. “Unfortunately, energy prices are not sufficient to cover the costs of operation and fuel supply,” he said.

Both of the 24.5-MW plants began operations in 1987, and were acquired by Covanta in 2008. Each plant roughly processes 550 dry tons of biomass waste materials each day, and the resulting power has been sold to ISO-New England, a regional transmission organization

Regan said that the company would continue to evaluate the future of the facilities.

Covanta’s few remaining U.S. wood-fired power plants are all in California—a state where the biomass power industry continues to dwindle in the midst of expiring energy contracts and low energy prices. 

The company also operates over 40 waste-to-energy plants.