Apr 3 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.