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DADS/Lowry Gas to Energy Plant. Public/Private Partnership. City and County of Denver Waste Management of Colorado Xcel Energy Regulatory Support and Assistance Colorado Dept. of Public Health and Environment USEPA Tri-County Health Department. What is Renewable Energy?.
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DADS/Lowry Gas to Energy Plant
Public/Private Partnership • City and County of Denver • Waste Management of Colorado • Xcel Energy • Regulatory Support and Assistance • Colorado Dept. of Public Health and Environment • USEPA • Tri-County Health Department
What is Renewable Energy? • Renewable energy is derived from sources that cannot be depleted or can be replaced naturally. • Hydro-power • Solar-power • Wind-power • Biomass (landfill gas/ethanol)
Why Develop Landfill Gas to Energy? • Provides Energy Alternatives • Increases energy supplies and provides alternatives to dependence on fossil fuels, preventing the use of 170,000,000 barrels of oil or removing emissions equivalent to 14,000,000 cars • Environmental Stewardship • Powering over 780,000 homes
Landfill Gas to Energy • Landfill Gas to Energy • Every day, approximately five pounds of solid waste is generated for every man, woman and child in the United States • As the waste decomposes, methane gas is produced which can be used to generate energy • Landfill gas production continues for 20 to 30 years or longer in arid areas once the solid waste is placed in the landfill
Landfill Gas to Energy Landfill gas is about 50 percent methane and 45 percent carbon dioxide and is considered a medium-Btu gas. Landfill gas has approximately half the heating value, or Btus of natural gas. Turbines Compressor
Methane gas is recovered by a series of wells that are drilled into the landfill. • The wells are interconnected by a common collection system that transports the gas to a compression facility. • The gas is compressed, dried and filtered before being sent through turbines or engines to produce electricity. • Energy is sold to a wholesale energy distributor.
WM Renewable Energy There are now 70 landfill gas Renewable Energy plants located on our landfills in 18 states, with a total capacity of almost 300 megawatts. The plants range in size from 2 to 11 megawatts, and achieve typical on-line availability of over 95%. At 27 Waste Management landfills, the landfill gas is piped to industrial customers, who use the landfill gas as medium-btu fuel for boilers, furnaces, or power production. At 3 landfills, the landfill gas is processed to remove the carbon dioxide and sold as high-btu pipeline-quality gas.
Construction and Operations Expertise Waste Management is the owner or managing partner for 50 of the 70 Renewable Energy plants. Over the past 15 years, Waste Management has developed the in-house expertise to design, operate, and maintain the plants, and has direct oversight of marketing and managing the Renewable Energy output. The remaining 20 plants have been developed with a variety of entities promoting Renewable Energy, including third-party developers, local energy co-ops, public utilities, and municipal utilities.
History of DADS and Lowry • Owned by the City and County of Denver • Denver operated Lowry from early 1960s to 1980 • Operated under “life of site” contract by WMC since 1980 • 2,364 acres of which 1,500 are permitted for landfilling • DADS receives approximately 10,000 tons of waste/day • DADS – 150 gas wells and 800 scfm of landfill gas • Lowry – 64 gas wells and 200 scfm of landfill gas • Denver owns the rights to the LF gas • Shared Flare
DADS/Lowry Landfill Renewable Energy Project Description • Designed initially as a 4 CAT3516 – 800 KW engine facility (expandable to 8 – 800 KW engines) • Net output of 3.2 MW’s (per hour), enough to power about 3,000 homes
Agreements • LFG Purchase Agreement between Denver and WMRE • LFG O&M Agreement between Lowry Trusts and WMC • LFG O&M Agreement between Lowry Trusts and WMRE • Renewable Energy Purchase Agreement between Xcel Energy and WMRE
Approvals • EPA – Change in LFG Remedy, Compliance Monitoring Plan, O&M Manual • CDPHE (Air Quality) – Construction Permit, Title V Permit, GCCS Plan, SSM Plan
Finances • Capital Investment • Purchase of LFG • Sale of Electricity – Amendment 37 • Tax Credits – Section 45
CONTACTS • David Wilmoth – City and County of Denver • (720) 865-5438 • Leonard Butler – WMC • (303) 486-6044 • Doc Nyiro – WMC • (720) 876-2621
DADS and Lowry LandfillLandfill Gas to Energy Discussion Items Questions?