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Chronological List of District Heating
Systems in the United States |
The Nashville Thermal Transfer Corporation built a system that began operation in February 1974 using steam produced in a waste-to-energy plant. This plant was replaced in December 2003 by a natural gas burning facility that heats and cools 42 downtown buildings.
The system is owned and operated by the Metro Nashville District Energy System.
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| 1973 Map of Initial System Customers | 1987 System Map |
References
1972 "New District Heating-Cooling Plant in
Nashville, Tennessee," District Heating 58(2):20-23 (Fall
1972)
1973 "Central Heating and Cooling Services Project with Solid Waste Fueled Plant," by Carl Avers, Proceedings of the International District Heating Association 64:123-132 (June 1973), includes map of initial system customers shown above.
1973 "Solid Waste Plant in Nashville, Tenn.," District Heating 59(2):36-38 (October-November 1973)
1973 "Nashville
to use Waste for Energy," The New York Times, December 10,
1973, Page 45.
NASHVILLE, Dec. 10—A major experiment In energy conservation,
environmental protection and pollution control begins here late this month
with the test‐firing of the Nashville thermal transfer plant.
The plant, first of its kind in the country, is designed to convert 1,400
tons of solid waste daily into steam to warm downtown buildings in winter
and into cold water to cool them in summer.
Carl E. Avers, general manager and chief engineer of the. Nashville
Thermal Transfer Corporation, is confident of success, though some of the
local officials and community leaders who sponsored the project are a
little nervous.
Asked if there was a chance the plant might be a failure, Mr. Avers
replied: “I don't think so. There isn't really anything we're doing that's
new. Europe has about 150 plants which convert solid waste into heat. The
energy crunch hit them a long time before it reached us.”
The one additional feature of the Nashville project is that it will
deliver 41‐degree water to air‐condition buildings as well as 300‐degree
steam for heat.
An underground distribution system of pipes—is being installed in the
downtown area and the core of it will be ready when the transfer plant is
fired up.
Initial tests will be made with oil and gas to check out the plant and the
distribution system. The switch to solid waste as a fuel will come in
March or April. Mr. Avers said the initial consumption of solid
waste—rubbish discarded by residences, and commercial and industrial
enterprises—will be about 720 tons daily.
An expansion of the plant to raise its production of steam or cold water
and to increase waste consumption to 1,400 tons a day is in progress.
Mr. Avers is confident there will be more than enough waste to fuel the
thermal transfer system. In fact, even at 1,400 tons daily, he said, the
operation will be using only about half of the normal solid waste from
Nashville and Davidson County.
Officials from other cities, including New York, have been here for
inspections and conferences. At least 25 municipalities have feasibility
studies in progress, based on the concept of the operation here.
If the system works as planned, the plant will almost completely consume
the waste materials fed into it. Landfills will continue in use to dispose
of the ash—the tin cans and other durable materials remaining after the
flammable part of the refuse has been burned.
Nashville Thermal Transfer is a nonprofit corporation organized about
three years ago by local political, business and civic leaders in
cooperation with local and state officials. The plant and distribution
system are being constructed at a cost of $16.5‐million.
The project was financed by revenue bonds, and the sponsors are confident
the project will earn enough to pay operating costs and retire the bonds.
1974 "District Heating and Cooling with a Solid Waste Fueled Plant," by Carl Avers, Proceedings of the International District Heating Association 65:49-52 (June 1974)
1980 "Update on Nashville Thermal," Proceedings of the International District Heating Association 71:Part 14 (June 1980)
1987 "Municipal Waste Fuel District Heating & Cooling System Nashville, Tennessee," District Heating and Cooling 72(4):35-38 (Second Quarter 1987), includes 1987 map of system shown above
About Metro Nashville District Energy System Services includes timeline of system
© 2026 Morris A. Pierce