Vicinity Energy has acquired Morgantown Energy Associates, a district energy system that has been serving the West Virginia University (WVU) in Morgantown, West Virginia, for an undisclosed price.

The district energy system has been acquired from an investment affiliate of Starwood Energy Group Global. It delivers steam to more than 60 buildings of the West Virginia University located across five campuses.

Morgantown is now the 12th city that will be served by Vicinity Energy, taking its portfolio to 19 district energy networks.

The Morgantown Energy Associates district energy system is located on the Monongahela River banks. The district energy system was built and began servicing the West Virginia University in 1992.

Historically, the system burnt coal as its primary fuel supply to distribute steam via a 2.25-mile underground distribution system. Vicinity Energy revealed that it had ceased coal operations last month and will mainly burn natural gas to address the heating, cooling, domestic hot water, and sterilization requirements of the University and Medical Center’s footprint of 9.8 million square feet, thereby removing nearly 50% of the steam system’s carbon footprint.

Bill DiCroce – president and CEO of Vicinity Energy said: “We are proud to serve an elite institution like WVU and bring Vicinity’s expertise in delivering highly reliable and sustainable district energy services to the University.

“We are also excited by the opportunity to dramatically improve the environmental footprint of the system and improve local air quality for the University. Our dedication and focus to deliver mission critical district energy services to academic and healthcare customers allow us to be a strategic partner for WVU’s critical energy needs and energy efficiency goals.”

Vicinity Energy plans to ramp up the resiliency of the district energy system in 2020 to make sure that it will be able to offer reliable energy to the university and its mission-critical facilities at the Medical Center. The company will invest in the district energy system for converting the existing natural gas-fired infrastructure to dual fuel with ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD) as backup and will install a couple of additional dual fuel boilers to it.

Himanshu Saxena – CEO of Starwood Energy said: “During our period of ownership, Starwood Energy developed a plan to stop burning coal and repurpose the asset to burn clean natural gas to supply steam to WVU. This initiative was implemented by Vicinity Energy and is a great success story for our investors, WVU and Vicinity Energy.

“We are pleased that Vicinity, as a trusted new owner, will continue to serve WVU in an environmentally sustainable fashion for years to come.”

  Bill DiCroce, district energy system, Himanshu Saxena, Morgantown, Morgantown Energy Associates, Starwood Energy Group, Vicinity Energy, West Virginia, West Virginia University