Dive Brief:
- A landfill in Orange County, CA is slated to become one of the largest sites in the U.S. to produce energy from waste. Plans for the project began in 2008, but were stalled.
- Montauk Energy, based in Pittsburgh, PA, is handling the construction of the $60 million facility at the Bowerman landfill in Irvine
- The Bowerman site is 4 to 5 times larger than the average WTE project. It is expected to have the capacity to power 14,500 homes.
Dive Insight:
Orange County Waste and Recycling will receive $1.6 million every year to operate the plant. The city of Anaheim entered into an agreement to pay Montauk Energy $13.5 million for the facility’s first year in operation, a fee that increases by 2.5% annually over a ten year timeframe.
In addition, the city must meet a state mandate requiring utility companies to obtain 33% of electrical power from renewable resources by 2020. Currently, approximately 30% of Anaheim’s power is generated through alternative methods—geothermal plants, wind turbines, and a gas-to-power generator.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency determined that 371 landfills throughout the country have the potential to become WTE projects, however, industry experts estimate only 5% of the sites will actually be built.
Falling natural gas prices are rendering tax credits and grants for such projects obsolete, and most sites aren’t able to generate enough power to turn a profit without that additional funding.
