Delaware now generating power from landfill methane

Delaware has started generating what promises to be a significant amount of power from landfill gas.

Methane from landfills at the state's 770-acre central facility in Sandtown and a 570-acre landfill in Georgetown is being processed to generate an expected 7.4 megawatts of electricity in total - enough for the yearly needs of 7,400 homes. The Georgetown site is already producing, while the Sandtown facility is expected to be online in the next few weeks.

The projects have been developed and are being run by Ameresco of Framingham, MA. Including the Delaware project, the company now operates 11 such plants in North America and has the equivalent of 109 MW of similar renewable energy projects in operation or under development at five other plants.

Utilities had previously been sniffing around the landfills' methane for energy conversion, but couldn't make an attractive enough commercial proposition. "We needed at least 4 cents a kilowatt to break even, and they were only willing to pay 2.8 cents. So for many years, we flared the gas instead of producing power with it," said N.C. Vasuki, CEO of the Delaware Solid Waste Authority, owner of the landfills.

"Now, with Ameresco, we've got a good public/private partnership. We generate the gas, give it to them, and they generate the power and we share some of the revenues."

Decomposing garbage in landfills produces methane, which is collected and compressed to fuel electric generators. Projects like these reduce carbon dioxide emissions in two ways: reducing the use of natural gas as a power source and eliminating the need to flare methane at landfills. The Delaware projects will save approximately 40,000 tons a year in greenhouse gas emissions.

GE Energy is providing a total of seven of its Jenbacher J320 GS gas engines, configured as generators, for the project. The Jenbacher J320 GS is the largest engine in its category and can be configured to run on a number of fuels, including methane.

In a financing arrangement somewhat reminicent of the dot com technology buildout of the late 90s, GE Energy Financial Services is providing a $7.25 million loan for the sale, almost the entire purchase price.

Delaware’s renewable energy portfolio standard, enacted last July, requires suppliers to use renewable energy to generate at least 10 percent of the electricity they sell in the state by 2019.

The electricity produced is being sold to wholesale power seller Constellation NewEnergy.

For more information:

www.ameresco.com

www.ge.com