May 5 2014
A ribbon cutting ceremony today officially opened the nearby Pecan Row landfill gas generating facility, which will produce more than 4 megawatts (MW) of power for Green Power EMC, a green energy cooperative owned by 38 Electric Membership Corporations (EMC) in Georgia.
Green Power EMC has contracted with Energy Systems Group to purchase the full energy output of the Pecan Row facility – about 4.8 MW of total generation - and now has a green generating capability of about 32 MW. The Pecan Row Landfill is owned and operated by Advanced Energy, which sells waste methane to the project owner, Energy Services Group. Energy Services Group produces electricity for Green Power EMC by using the waste methane as fuel in generating units.
Green Power EMC President & CEO Jeff Pratt said the methane gas created by decomposing landfills is more than 20 times more harmful to our atmosphere than carbon dioxide. This project uses these waste emissions to generate useful energy for about 2000 Georgia homes and is equivalent to about 67,000 solar panels.
"This facility performs the dual service of removing potential harmful greenhouse gases from the atmosphere and creating electricity that can be used by homes and businesses each day," Pratt said. "Rather than just burning the landfill gas, the Pecan Row plant will provide Georgians with additional supplies of electricity from a clean energy source."
Green Power EMC was the first green energy provider in the state. It was created by Georgia's EMCs in 2001 and has been selling green energy since 2003. In addition to landfill gas generation, Green Power EMC obtains green power from renewable facilities all over the state, including low-impact hydroelectric, biomass from wood waste and solar power.