Ener-Core, Inc., based in Irvine, California, a technology provider and manufacturer of equipment designed to generate power from waste gases, reports that it has received a purchase order totaling $900,000 from the Advanced Power & Energy Program (APEP) of the University of California, Irvine for the installation of Ener-Core’s 250-kilowatt Powerstation EC250 at the closed Santiago Canyon Landfill in Orange County.

Ener-Core says the installed Powerstation will use the low-quality gas created from solid waste decomposition to produce electricity for Orange County Waste and Recycling site operations, which, in turn, is anticipated to lower the county’s utility bill for such operations.

The Santiago Canyon landfill has been closed since 1996 and has been flaring its landfill gas because the gas quality was not high enough to be used as a fuel for traditional power-generation technologies.

The APEP order is the second purchase order Ener-Core has received in approximately one month, following the receipt of a purchase order from Dresser-Rand in early August for the delivery and installation of two of Ener-Core’s larger-scale 2-megawatt Power Oxidizers to be coupled with the Dresser-Rand KG2-3GEF two-megawatt gas turbine generators for Pacific Ethanol’s Stockton, California, plant.

Alain Castro, CEO of Ener-Core, says, “This purchase order is another key milestone in our company’s development and product commercialization. Converting the low-quality gas from the Santiago landfill into productive energy for the community is a prime example of how our technology can help solve a major environmental problem that we are facing in the United States today. We have already proven, in Europe, the viability of our technology for closed landfills. We’re excited to install one of our systems at a closed landfill right here in California, to continue proving that landfills as well as many industries can effectively reduce their emissions of poor-quality greenhouse gases while also monetizing these gases by converting them to clean power. We value our partnership with APEP and Orange County Waste & Recycling, and look forward to moving ahead on this project.”

According to Ener-Core, when landfills are closed and stop receiving more solid waste, the quality of their gas degrades to levels making it infeasible to use for generating power with traditional power equipment. However the company says that its technology enables the generation of clean, renewable power from landfills for decades after they are closed.
Castro concludes, “When we then look at the remainder of the U.S. and at international markets, the number of sites where Ener-Core could enable closed landfills to continue generating power (and revenue) is substantial.”

Installation of the 250kW Powerstation EC250 at Santiago Canyon is expected by the second quarter 2016.