Landfill project will boost electricity production to 12.8 megawatts.
Waste Management Inc. (WM), Houston, has announced plans to double the generation capacity of its Columbia Ridge landfill gas power plant in north central Oregon.
The landfill is a Subtitle D landfill that accepts municipal solid waste (MSW) as well as industrial and special wastes, including construction and demolition material. In total the landfill handles 2 million tons of solid waste per year. The Seattle Public Utility ships the city’s solid waste to the landfill.
Since 2009 WM has operated an energy plant at the landfill that uses methane extracted at the facility to generate renewable energy. The gas collected from the landfill powers eight engines that produce 6.4 megawatts of electricity.
In light of the success of the project, WM says it is completing an expansion of the facility. The company says it expects the project to be complete by August 2014. When finished, the facility will have a new capacity of 12.8 megawatts, essentially doubling the output of the facility.
Seattle’s City Light, the 10th largest public utility in the United States, will purchase all the electricity produced at the landfill and use it to help power customers. The utility provides service to 400,000 customers in the Northwest.
“Even the trash we throw away is a resource that can be used to generate clean electricity,” says Jason Rose, WM area vice president. “We are completing the circle of sustainable practices, maximizing the resources of even our garbage to find new, alternative energy in an environmentally responsible manner.”
“Adding the increased generation from Columbia Ridge to our energy portfolio helps us meet our customers’ electricity needs, continue our status as a carbon-neutral utility and meet the new renewable energy goals of Initiative 937,” says Jorge Carrasco, City Light general manager and CEO.
