Powered by methane.

• Author: Larmour, Adelle
• Position: NEWS

Northern Ontario's first methane powered electricity plant is up and running. Since its official launching Sept. 6, 2007 at the City of Greater Sudbury's landfill site, the plant is currently producing 1.2 megawatts (MW) of power.

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"As we put more garbage on top it increases the coverage, and we are able to draw more methane," says Paula Tarini, Greater Sudbury Utilities conservation supervisor. "Right now, there is about 480 cubic feet-per-minute which allows the engine to operate at 1.2 MW as opposed to 1.6 MW, its full capacity."

The installation of the $3.2 million system is a result of a 20-year agreement between the City of Greater Sudbury, Greater Sudbury Utilities, Toromont Energy Limited and the provincial government.

The Greater Sudbury Landfill Gas Generation System, the company that owns the generator and a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Greater Sudbury Utilities, obtained a loan amortized over the 20-year contract. Toromont Energy was hired to construct, operate and maintain the plant.

The energy produced will be sold to the province at 11 cents per kilowatt hour (kW-h).

"When it generates on peak we qualify for the additional 3.52 cents, which brings up the peak costs to 14.52 cents/kW-h," Tarini says, all of which is part of the Standard Offer Agreement for the sale of green energy within the province making it a viable operation.

Tarini anticipates there will be enough methane gas to support the installation of a second engine by 2011.

"The landfill gas generation plant at the Sudbury Landfill is an excellent example of how new technologies are converting formerly wasted resources into lucrative energy sources," Mayor John Rodriguez said in the Sept. 6 press release. "So long as we have municipal landfills, we will have methane gas to power our homes."

The plant operates on a vacuum system that slowly draws gas from a collection system of perforated pipes, which is cleaned of impurities and then sent to a reciprocating engine. The engine powers a 1.6 MW generator, which is intended to reach its full capacity by...