Site generates equivalent enough electricity to power 14,000 homes.
Waste Management of Indiana LLC, the Wabash Valley Power Association and Hendricks Power Cooperative have dedicated a renewable energy generation facility that uses gas from landfill waste to generate electricity.
The dedication marked the completion of the fourth landfill gas-to-energy plant at the Twin Bridges Recycling and Disposal Facility in Danville, Ind. With the addition of the 3.2 megawatts of power from the Twin Bridges IV site, the plant generates enough electricity to power about 14,000 homes.
Twin Bridges IV represents Wabash Valley Power's 14th landfill gas-to-energy facility, each of which is located in the northern half of Indiana on landfills owned by Waste Management. Through an exclusive partnership, Wabash Valley Power owns the power plants, while Waste Management of Indiana supplies the landfill gas and serves as the plant operator.
"In 2007, our board of directors set a goal to increase our ownership of diverse fuel resources," explains Greg Wagoner, vice president of business development for Wabash Valley Power. "Yet, while we want to be proactive in our pursuit of that goal, we remain committed to the delivery of affordable, reliable power to our member cooperatives. Our partnership with Waste Management of Indiana is instrumental in this process."
Fuel for the Twin Bridges landfill gas-to-energy facility is derived from wastes buried in the landfill, which generate methane gas. A network of recovery wells and pipes control and collect the methane and convey it to an on-site power plant where the gas is condensed, purified and used as fuel to drive engines that, in turn, drive electricity generators.
The engines used in the process are manufactured by Caterpillar Inc. at its Lafayette, Ind., Engine Center. At Twin Bridges IV, two 20-cylinder engines each generate 1.6 megawatts of electricity through the burning of methane. The facility is designed to be scalable, with the ability to grow to four engines as the landfill's gas generation increases in future years.
"Our goal is to operate our landfill facilities in a way that meets the highest environmental standards," says Brad Eisenhart, senior district manager for Waste Management of Indiana. "The Twin Bridges landfill and gas-to-energy facilities do that and more by managing waste gases and channeling them to generate energy. This benefits the community in ways that makes our people and company very proud."
Waste Management and Wabash Valley Power also partner on 14 landfill gas-to-energy facilities in Cass, Elkhart, Hendricks, Jay, Lake, La Porte, St. Joseph, and White counties in Indiana.