GM gets steamy with Detroit Renewable Energy

Detroit, November 19, 2013: General Motors and Detroit Renewable Energy have announced a renewable energy project to turn solid municipal waste from Metro Detroit into process steam that will be used to heat and cool portions of GM’s Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant.

When the project is operational, 58 percent of the plant’s energy needs will come from renewable energy, making Detroit-Hamtramck the top GM facility in the world by percentage of renewable energy used.

“We have 107 landfill-free facilities across the globe that recycle or reuse their waste, with some of it turned into energy,” said Rob Threlkeld, GM’s global manager of renewable energy. “It made sense to explore this option with DRE at Detroit-Hamtramck, given their quality work in helping us manage our energy use at some of our other GM plants.”

Detroit Renewable is able to process more than 1 million tonnes of municipal solid waste into electric power and steam while also recycling nearly 40,000 tons of metal annually. The steam will travel 8,300 feet through a pipe originating at Detroit Renewable Power and ending at the Detroit-Hamtramck plant.

“We have a long history of working with GM in providing energy to its assembly plants,” said Detroit Renewable Energy Chairman and CEO Steven White. “To incorporate a sustainable and renewable energy source into the Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Plant makes a significant addition to the value chain.”

The steam pipe will provide 15.8 megawatts of renewable energy to the plant, which equates to 12 percent of GM’s overall goal of putting 125 megawatts of renewable energy into its energy portfolio by 2020.

Construction of the new steam line and associated energy infrastructure will begin later this month and become operational by mid-2014.