BY KEITH LACEY
By next spring, methane gas produced from the main Greater Sudbury landfill site will provide electricity to more than 1,000 homes in the city's east end and generate significant revenue, as much as $800,000 annually for city coffers.
Danielle Braney, acting director of solid waste for the city, made a brief presentation before city council Wednesday evening detailing how the city's Landfill Gas Utilization program has moved ahead very quickly over the past few months.
Last March, council approved staff commence negotiations with Genco, a methane gas production company, to develop a landfill gas utilization program, said Braney.
A $2 million collection installation system was put in place last fall and data has since been compiled and equipment was ordered by Genco two weeks ago, said Braney.
Construction of an operational plant has been delayed from late 2006 to the spring of 2007. Genco hopes to begin producing electricity next spring, said Braney.
Large pieces of a collection system have already been acquired and put in place and an engine needed to gather the methane gas produced by landfill waste will soon be installed, she said.
A waste optimization study estimated 375 cubic feet of methane gas would be produced per minute, but current performance levels show that's increased to 480 cubic feet, and the original estimates of producing 45 percent methane have increased to between 50 and 55 percent, she said.
“Those numbers will increase with continuous site filling until at least 2020,” she said.
The city is still waiting for approval and certification by the Ontario Energy Board, and various other government agencies, but she doesn't foresee any significant problems, said Braney.
The city and Greater Sudbury Utilities must also hammer out a working agreement, but that also won't pose any problems, she said.
Agreements to supply and complete construction of the 1.6-megawatt generating plant should be in place within the next few weeks, she said.The Ministry of Energy has agreed to purchase electricity from the plant at 11 cents per kilowatt for 20 years, far above the assumed market price of eight cents, said Braney.
The working agreement will also allow an additional 3.5 cents per kilowatt incentive for performance for output at peak times, she said.
These higher numbers have increased projected revenue streams from $50,000 to $100,000 per year to anywhere between $300,000 to $800,000 annually, said Braney.
Similar technology being used at this plant is now being used successfully at more than 1,000 landfill sites around the world, including 250 in North America and nine in Canada, she said.
Doug Reeves, general manager of the GSU, said potential revenue streams and ability to increase power generation will only increase as the collection system at the landfill site is expanded.
There's potential to add more engines and capture more methane gas using even more leading edge technology, he said.
Electricity produced from the plant will be added directly to the Moonlight Beach substation located near the entrance the landfill site and will allow for as many as 1,200 homes to receive electricity, he said.
Options to finance completion of the project will be presented to council in several weeks, said Braney.
