The Babcock & Wilcox Company (B&W) (NYSE: BWC) and its consortium partner, BE&K Construction Company, LLC (BE&K), have been awarded a contract worth more than $668 million to engineer, design, procure and construct a new, state-of-the-art waste-to-energy power plant for the Solid Waste Authority (SWA) of Palm Beach County in West Palm Beach, Fla.

B&W also was awarded a contract to provide operation and maintenance (O&M) services for the new facility. The first 10-year phase of the 20-year O&M agreement is valued at approximately $235 million.

B&W and BE&K will share the design and build work scope, while B&W will exclusively perform the O&M services. The SWA will release the consortium to begin the design and limited procurement this year, with full release scheduled in 2012.

B&W will design and supply three mass burn boilers capable of generating up to 95 gross megawatts of electricity, grates, ash systems, metals recovery systems, emissions control equipment - including a dry flue gas desulfurization unit, baghouse, carbon injection and selective catalytic reduction system - duct work and other components. BE&K will provide the balance of plant equipment and construction services.

The facility, once complete, will be capable of processing 3,000 tons of municipal solid waste per day to produce electricity and significantly reduce the amount of waste sent to the county's landfill. The project scope includes the installation of a metals recovery system to maximize the recovery and recycle of aluminum, steel and other metals.

The new plant is to be located on 24 acres adjacent to the SWA's existing waste-to-energy plant, the Palm Beach Renewable Energy Facility No.1, which also was designed, built and has been operated by B&W for more than two decades.

"B&W has endeavored to provide the best possible value to the SWA and to the people of Palm Beach County," said B&W President and CEO Brandon C. Bethards. "I expect the new plant will be an outstanding asset, capable of providing affordable power and waste management for the county, and creating hundreds of jobs in Palm Beach County."

The project is expected to create the equivalent of 325 full-time construction jobs in West Palm Beach, with more than 900 people to be employed during some phases of construction. When operational, the new plant will employ 64 permanent, full-time workers.

B&W engineering, technical and support personnel are expected to begin design work in Barberton this month. Furnace wall panels, boiler pressure parts and various components are targeted for fabrication in B&W's North American plants. The waste-to-energy plant is scheduled for commercial operation in spring 2015.

About The Babcock & Wilcox Company

Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., The Babcock & Wilcox Company is a leader in clean energy technology and services, primarily for the nuclear, fossil and renewable power markets as well as a premier advanced technology and mission critical defense contractor. B&W has locations worldwide and employs approximately 12,000 people, in addition to approximately 10,000 joint venture employees. Learn more at www.babcock.com.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward Looking Statements

B&W cautions that this release contains forward-looking statements, including statements relating to the value, scope and timing of the West Palm Beach waste-to-energy contract and the benefits and capabilities expected in connection with the new plant. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties, including, among other things, delays or other difficulties executing on our contracts in backlog and adverse changes affecting the renewable energy industry. If one or more of these or other risks materialize, actual results may vary materially from those expected. For a more complete discussion of these and other risk factors, please see B&W's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010. B&W cautions not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof, and undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, except to the extent required by applicable law.