Delaware Electric Cooperative is now buying power from the Delaware Solid Waste Authority’s Landfill in Sandtown, Del. in Kent County.
The member-owned utility, based in Greenwood, is purchasing two megawatts of power generated at the site — enough to power 1,200 homes.
The energy is being produced by two new methane-fired engines constructed at the landfill. The system converts the gas produced by decomposing garbage into electricity. The landfill gas plant was built by Ameresco, a renewable energy company.
The power produced at the site is sent directly to member homes and is being purchased at a very competitive price. This means the Co-op doesn’t have to pay transmission fees to distribute the power to its members, according to a release from the cooperative.
The project is also expected to reduce emissions at the Sandtown Landfill. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, gas-to-energy projects can lower emissions at landfills by 60 to 90 percent. If the methane gas wasn’t being used to produce energy, it would be burned off, releasing emissions into the air.
Currently, Delaware Electric Co-op purchases or produces ten percent of its power from renewable sources. The purchase of energy produced at the landfill will further bolster DEC’s renewable portfolio. Under state law, all utilities in Delaware must purchase or produce 25 percent of their energy from renewable sources by 2025.
According to Co-op President and CEO Bill Andrew,” This is the first time the Co-op has directly purchased power from a landfill and we’re looking at the possibility of further partnering with other landfills in the state. Not only is this project good for the environment, but we do not expect this to have an impact on electric rates.”
The renewable energy mandate is expected to put pressure on electric rates in coming years, although the costs of solar power have been dropping.
The board of the cooperative approved a rate increase averaging about $8.40 a month, according to an Associated Press story, due to higher costs at its wholesale supplier, Old Dominion. Old Dominion is seeing growing demand for electricity as well as fewer options in purchasing power from coal-fired plants, which are being shut down if the cost of new emissions equipment is not affordable.
Old Dominion plans to build a new natural gas-fired power plant in Cecil County, Md. about a half an hour drive west from Newark, Del.
