Download Prince William County Landfill Gas Generates Electricity

Prince William County Landfill Gas Generates Electricity –
Prince William garbage provides power for 5000 homes
On December 4, 2013 the Prince William County Solid Waste Division officially “flipped the
switch” to create more energy from landfill gas. With the help of Fortistar, an independent
power generation company, the County’s power plant expanded by three new CAT 3520
engines. The three additional engines were officially put into service at its landfill gas-to-energy
power plant. These new engines in conjunction with the two engines, also installed by Fortistar
in the late 1990s, produce 6.7 megawatts (MW) and supply the electricity needs of 5000
homes. The five generators supply approximately 48 million kilowatt-hours annually to the
Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative (NOVEC) grid. Before the recent plant expansion, the
landfill generated 1.9 MW, which supplied NOVEC with electricity for about 2000 homes. The
original engines, however, had become insufficient at handling all of the methane produced by
1,000 tons of garbage that arrive at the landfill every day.
This project is an example of an ongoing successful public/ private partnership. Beginning with
local residents throwing out their trash, collected by local haulers and transported
to the Prince William County Landfill for disposal, the Prince William Solid Waste Division
manages the trash for good use. The landfill system is specifically set up to capture and process
the gas produced by the decaying trash disposed in the landfill. This gas is collected and fed into
engines that generate electricity that NOVEC delivers to its customers – local residents. Local
residents then benefit from a reliable source of energy generated for refuse.
FORTISTAR completed the power plant expansion that began in early 2013, on time and on
budget. Fortistar owns and manages the power plant and sells the electricity it produces to
NOVEC. In addition, the County receives a portion of the proceeds from the energy sales, which
help offset the cost of landfill operations.
The County Landfill is located in the Coles Magisterial District, which is represented by Board of
County Supervisor Martin E. Nohe. At the December 4 ribbon cutting ceremony, Supervisor
Nohe said, “Garbage isn’t something people would choose to think much about. “Local
government does a lot of things. We arrest the bad guys. We put out the fires. We monitor the
streams. We build the roads. Those are the things we talk about. Most Americans don’t want to
think about a lot of what we do. They don’t want to think about the fact that it’s the local
government that’s in charge of burying the garbage.” Nohe went on to say, “Something that I
think should be a great source of pride is we turn our garbage into a world-leading energy
resource. What we do here is fantastic.”
Tom Smith, Prince William County Solid Waste Division Chief, said “It is not easy to take in
1,000 tons of trash a day. You can’t say, I don’t feel like doing it today because it comes in every
day. My staff does an excellent job of processing it. We are taking a negative and turning into a
positive. A win-win situation, not only are we providing power that can be used in our
community, we are also controlling the landfill gas. The engines and flare is our treatment
system for meeting regulatory requirements and controlling gas from the landfill.”
For more information on Prince William County Solid Waste Division programs, services and
activities visit www.pwcgov.org/trashandrecycling.
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The Prince William County Solid Waste Division (SWD) provides solid waste management,
recycling, composting and waste resource education to over 400,000 residents. The division
employees more than 50 people and operates the only active Extraordinary Environmental
Excellence (E4) rated landfill in Virginia, the highest level of certification awarded by Virginia
Department of Environmental Quality’s (DEQ) Environmental Excellence Program (VEEP). In
2013, the SWD also earned the Governor’s Environmental Excellence Gold Medal Award for its
Sustainability Program. The SWD is a part of the Prince William County Public Works
Department, an accredited agency of the American Public Works Association.