HomeMy WebLinkAboutAnchorage Landfill Gas to Electricity JBER DoyonSWS BobZacharskiSonnyTurpin 08-2015-AAnchorage, Alaska
Landfill generates renewable electricity for military base
Quick Facts
Total project costs: $30.6 million
Funding:
Renewable Energy Grant Fund : $2 million
Matching Funds: $28.6 million
Equipment
65 wells & collection points at the landfill
Engine: Five GE Jenbacher JGS 420
Generator: Caterpillar G3520CPGL
Capacity: 1.6 MW/generator, 7 MW total
Diesel equivalent gallons (DEG) displaced
Annual: 5.4 million DEG annually
Cumulative: 9.8 million DEG
(Aug. 2012-Dec. 2014)
Fuel Savings
Annual: $2.4 million
Cumulative: $6.5 million
(Aug. 2012-Dec. 2014)
Megawatts Generated:
47,000 MWh annually
Anchorage Landfill Gas to Electricity
Doyon Utility (DU) and the Municipality of
Anchorage’s Solid Waste Services (SWS)
developed and constructed an electric
power plant located at the Anchorage
Regional Landfill (ARL). The plant uses landfill
gas, a byproduct of anaerobic waste
decomposition, as its primary fuel to produce
electricity which is then sold to the Joint Base
Elmendorf-Richardson (JBER). Natural gas is
burned when methane is not available.
Jenbacher JGS 420, photo courtesy of Lang Van Dommelen.
As a result of this project, 25 percent of all energy
demand at JBER is met with renewable energy.
Project overview
Objectives
The main objectives of this project were to
provide clean electricity to JBER and use a
waste product that was being flared into the
atmosphere. The facility currently meets 25
percent of JBER’s total electric energy
demand.
Economic feasibility
The project became operational in August
2012 and by December 2014 had generated
102,881 megawatt-hours (MWh) of electrici-
ty (more than double the predicted amount),
and displaced the equivalent of 9.8 million
gallons of diesel fuel. In addition to fuel cost
savings, the project provides a steady stream
of income to the Municipality of Anchorage
through the sale of landfill gas, a resource
that had previously cost money to dispose of.
Project development
The project started with four internal
combustion engines but just a year later they
added an additional engine because of the
increased amounts of landfill gas. Capacity
was expanded two years prior to initial plans.
There is enough room in the power plant to
house one more engine (six total) should the
military base, city, or landfill expand.
Project Contact Information
Involved Parties:
Bob Zacharski, DU
Email: info@doyon.com
Phone: 907-375-4220
Griffith (Sonny) Turpin, JBER
Phone: 907-384-2763
Email: griffith.turpin@us.af.mil
Mark Madden, SWS
Email: maddenma@ci.anchorage.ak.us
Phone: 907-343-6262
Case study author: Zoe Tressel, AEA Intern
Landfill power plant, photo courtesy of Daysha Eaton, KSKA.
Methane transmission line, photo credit Loren Holmes.
Anchorage Landfill Gas to Electricity
Published August, 2015
Project benefits
The project provides benefits to all partners.
SWS receives compensation for disposing
of a waste product that would otherwise be
a cost. The project created a new revenue
stream for the Municipality of Anchorage and
delays the need to expand the existing land-
fill, keeping waste disposal rates and emmis-
sions low for the community.
Doyon Utilities generates and sells electricity
to JBER and makes a reasonable profit.
JBER far exceeds the Energy Policy Act of
2005 requirement for renewable energy in
federal facilities. The project is the largest
green energy project in the US Airforce
Pacific Theater. It is a win-win-win project
for Anchorage, DU, and JBER.
This gas to electricity project is one of the
northern most of its kind. The predictive
models and design standards for gas col-
lection systems are generally developed for
warmer or more moderate climates. Conse-
quently, the operators are always tweaking
their predictive model for gas generation.
They also continuously experiment with the
operation of the collection system in cold
environments using insulated piping rather
than relying on deeper burial to limit freezing
of moisture carried by gas.
Learning experiences/challenges
Funding
The Alaska Energy Authority’s Renewable
Energy Fund contributed $2.0 million and the
Municipality of Anchorage contributed $1.4
million. These funds were used to construct
the gas processing system and a 6,000 foot
transmission pipeline. Doyon Utility and
several other organizations provided the
remainder of funding for the construction of
the power plant and electrical distribution
sytem. Total project costs equaled $30.6 mil-
lion.