USA: Georgia Power, Georgia Waste To Energy Strike Deal on Electricity Produced from Landfill Waste
04
April
2008
With the ink barely dry on its last renewable energy contract, Georgia Power has now signed a long-term
contract with another independent renewable generator that will produce
electricity from landfill waste.
Georgia Power and Georgia Waste To Energy Cedar Grove LLC, in
partnership with America's Waste To Energy, penned a 10-year deal for
electricity that will be generated from everyday household trash. The power
will come from the Cedar Grove gasification facility in Barnesville, Ga.
The material used to make electricity will come from household garbage
delivered to the Lamar County Regional Solid Waste Landfill.
The Cedar Grove facility initially will produce six megawatts of
renewable energy annually and plans to expand its generation capacity to 18
megawatts within the year. Under the contract, Georgia Power will purchase
100 percent of the plant's capacity. One megawatt is enough energy to
supply a Super Target store or approximately 250 Georgia residences.
This marks the first contract Georgia Power has signed for electricity
generated through a gasification process. Gasification is the process in
which a carbon-based, high-caloric material also known as "municipal solid
waste" (MSW) (i.e., anything other than glass, masonry, or metals) goes
through a thermal transformation process in an oxygen-deprived environment
and is then converted into a variety of products such as inert ash, various
chemicals, synthesis gas (syngas) and steam. This process will not only
produce renewable generation, it will also clean the existing landfill.
"By tapping into the power of biomass gasification to make electricity,
Georgia Power is not only doing what's good for the environment but is also
continuing to diversify its expanding renewable portfolio throughout the
state," said Jeff Burleson, director of Resource Policy and Planning.
"This agreement essentially allows us to market the Biosphere system
directly to cities, counties and governmental entities that are interested
in landfill reclamation and utility generation," said Douglas Scott,
managing member of GW2E. "The product's ability to create a zero waste
environment will give municipalities the ability to solve their
environmental concerns while providing clean water and electricity to their
communities."
Georgia Power also currently purchases approximately 22,500 annual
megawatt-hours from a landfill methane gas plant in DeKalb County that
produces electricity from household waste, nearly 90 percent of which has
become part of the company's Green Energy program.
With the addition of this contract, Georgia Power's energy portfolio
includes contracts with seven qualified biomass and renewable facilities
throughout the state that will generate 136 megawatts of capacity, or
enough renewable energy to power more than 34,000 homes. These contracts
include electricity generated from wood waste, landfill methane gas and
hydro. Georgia Power also buys energy from eight other renewable sources
when available.
AMERICA'S WASTE TO ENERGY partner, Global Environmental Energy Corp.
(GEECF), is a fully integrated energy company whose interests include
electrical power generation, oil and gas exploration and production, clean
coal and waste management technologies. GEECF is publicly traded in Europe
and the United States (Deutsche Borse: GLI, OTC Bulletin Board: GEECF) and
maintains a Web site at http://www.geecf.ru.
Georgia Power is working to increase its renewable energy portfolio
both through the purchase of energy from renewable generators and through
investments in self-owned renewable generation. Additionally, Georgia Power
will invest $43 million annually in 18 different demand response and energy
efficiency programs, including six new programs recently approved by the
Georgia Public Service Commission. These programs are expected to reduce
electricity demand by 1,000 megawatts by 2010.
Over the past two years, through promotion of the Change a Light
campaign, Georgia Power has distributed more than 200,000 compact
fluorescent light bulbs to consumers across Georgia who have pledged to
change at least one standard light bulb in their home to a compact
fluorescent bulb. As a leader in the nation for ENERGY STAR Change a Light
pledges, Georgia Power received the 2007 Excellence in ENERGY STAR
Promotion Award.
Georgia Power is the largest subsidiary of Southern Company, one of the
nation's largest generators of electricity. The company is an
investor-owned, tax-paying utility with rates well below the national
average. Georgia Power serves 2.3 million customers in all but four of
Georgia's 159 counties.
Georgia Power
Organization name: Georgia Power Phone: . City: Georgia Country: USA
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