Food waste power plant connects to grid in USA

• 11 years ago (2012-08-25)
• David Flin

North America 1004

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Columbia Biogas has announced that it has entered into a Small Generator Interconnection Agreement with PacifiCorp Transmission to connect its commercial food waste to energy plant in Portland, Oregon, USA to PacifiCorp’s Killingsworth substation. Under the terms of the agreement, Columbia Biogas will deliver electricity to the PacifiCorp system. Columbia Biogas has also signed a Power Purchase Agreement with PacifiCorp.

The renewable energy facility will convert commercial food waste from the Portland area into multiple green products, including electricity, water, and fertiliser. Columbia Biogas will receive food waste from commercial and industrial sources such as grocery stores, restaurants, food distributors, and food and beverage manufacturers.

The power plant will use anaerobic digestion in sealed tanks to degrade organic matter to produce methane-rich biogas. The facility will initially have a capacity of 3 MW, and Columbia Biogas plans to increase this to 5 MW.

John McKinney, President of Columbia Biogas, said: “This is a landmark agreement with PacifiCorp. We are one of the first municipal food waste-to-energy projects in the USA located within an urban industrial setting. We value our partnership with PacifiCorp and look forward to beginning commercial operations in late 2013.”