Cape Town took the first steps on Friday towards using a stinky eyesore to create clean energy.

Xanthea Limberg‚ the mayoral committee member for water‚ waste and energy‚ launched a gas extraction and flaring facility at Coastal Park landfill in Muizenberg which will destroy methane produced by the landfill by burning it at 1‚000ºC.

In as little as 18 months the plant is expected to add a methane-powered generator which will produce 1MW of power — enough to run the waste water treatment facility in nearby Pelican Park.

According to project manager Alberto Borello‚ from Fountain Green Energy‚ landfills are responsible for 4% of South Africa’s greenhouse gas emissions‚ mostly in the form of methane.

More than half the gas produced by rotting waste at Coastal Park is methane‚ while 40% is carbon dioxide.

The new project consists of 49 wells‚ each with a perforated pipe sunk about 20 metres into the garbage to suck out the gases. In the lifetime of the operation‚ Borello said 525‚000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions would be avoided.

The rate of extraction is expected to reach 1‚000m³ per hour‚ enough to power 128 landfill trucks if they ran on methane.

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South Africa's first independent landfill gas-to-power project has begun generation in Johannesburg - providing 3MW of renewable electricity, enough to supply more than 5,500homes.
 
Project developer ENERGY Systems has started operation at Robinson Deep landfill site in Johannesburg. This is the first stage of a £7.2 million (circa 130 million rand) investment in five landfill gas generation plants in Johannesburg – and is the largest project of its kind ever developed in South Africa.
 
ENERGY Systems is the majority shareholder in the investment project, together with state-owned Central Energy Fund (SOE) Ltd, and Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) company Secure Rock Enterprises. Local communities will benefit from a 2.5% profit share in the five facilities via ENERGY Systems' Community Educational Trust.
 
The ambitious project has taken eight years to develop and the City Council of Johannesburg has been a joint partner throughout. The Council will share in revenue generated via a 20-year power sale agreement with Eskom, which will sell the power into the distribution network.
 
The five facilities will produce a maximum 11MW of renewable energy, which could reduce the city's carbon footprint by approximately 459,034 metric tonnes per year - by replacing electricity generated from fossil fuels. This carbon dioxide saving equates to the environmental benefit of removing more than 153,000 cars from the roads, or the carbon dioxide that would be offset by a 434,524 acre forest - bigger in size than Johannesburg.
 
A second phase of future development could increase capacity and renewable energy output at three of the active landfill sites.
 
This is South Africa's first and only landfill gas generation to achieve success in the Department of Energy’s Renewable Electricity Independent Power Procurement Program (REIPPP).
 
A second facility is scheduled to open at Goudkoppies in March 2017, which will supply
2-3MW of green power. This will be followed by a 2-3MW plant at Marie Louise, a  and 1MW at Ennerdale, and finally the1MW Linbro Park facility, tentatively scheduled for completion in 2018.
 
ENERGY Systems first secured rights to the landfill gas in 2009, then conducted detailed environmental assessments and obtained environmental consents for the five sites. In 2012, the scheme was registered as a Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project under the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change. Prior to exporting power at Robinson Deep, ENERGY Systems has been destroying biogas emissions via flaring.
 
David Cornish, General Manager of ENERGY Systems, said: "We are very proud to work with our partners to begin commercial operation of South Africa's largest and only independent landfill gas-to-power project. This will bring much needed renewable power supplies to the country and make an impressive contribution to greenhouse gas reduction. We are also pleased to create jobs and share the benefits with both the municipality and community."
 
He continued: "The success of this project owes much to the City Council of Johannesburg, whose long-term support has enabled us to keep the project on track, despite challenges along the way. This is one of many landfill gas generation projects globally by our parent company Ylem Energy, which has manufactured, installed and operates in excess of 150 MW of biogas power generation."

A consortium led by biogas expert ENER-G Systems is investing £11 million (circa 230 million rand) in five landfill gas generation plants in Johannesburg. This is the largest landfill gas-to-power project to be developed in the country.
 ENER-G is the majority shareholder in the project, alongside state-owned Central Energy Fund (SOE) Ltd, and Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) company Secure Rock Enterprises. The ENER-G Community Educational Trust will ensure that local communities have a 2.5% economic interest in the five facilities.
The landfill sites are owned by the City Council of Johannesburg, which has been a key partner throughout the project's seven-year development process. It will share in the revenue generated from a 20-year power sale agreement with Eskom, which will sell the power into the distribution network.
 The five facilities will produce a total of 13MW of renewable energy, sufficient to power approximately 24,000 homes. In total, the facilities will achieve equivalent carbon dioxide emissions savings of approximately 542,495 metric tonnes per year. This is comparable to the environmental benefit of removing 180,832 cars from the roads, or the carbon dioxide that would be offset by a 444,668 acre forest - almost as big as the footprint of South Africa's Kruger National Park.
 This is the first and only landfill gas generation project in South Africa to be successful in the Department of Energy’s Renewable Electricity Independent Power Procurement Program (REIPPP) and it is the first independent power producing project in South Africa.
 Development will take three years to roll-out across the five sites, with the first and largest 5MW facility set to begin operation at Robinson Deep in summer 2016. The 3MW Goudkoppies facility is planned to open by late 2016. Plants at Marie Louise and Ennerdale will open in 2017, with the1MW Linbro Park facility scheduled for completion in the middle of 2018.
 ENER-G first secured rights to the landfill gas in 2009, then conducted detailed environmental assessments and obtained environmental consents for the five sites. In 2012, the scheme was registered as a Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project under the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change. For the past four years at the Robinson Deep site, ENER-G has implemented flaring to collect and destroy the biogas emissions.
David Cornish, General Manager of ENER-G Systems, said: "In a country that is dominated by coal-based power plants and where there are problems with power resilience, we are proud to work with our local partners to develop much needed renewable power supplies and contribute to greenhouse gas reduction. The five landfill gas generation facilities will also create much needed jobs, while benefiting the local municipality through revenue sharing, and aiding local communities through the ENER-G Community Educational Trust."
He continued: "This complex project has been seven years in development and we are very grateful to the City Council of Johannesburg, whose patience and long-term support has enabled us to overcome some significant hurdles along the way, such as achieving project compliance with the REIPPP programme."    
This is one of many landfill gas generation projects by ENER-G globally, which has manufactured, installed and operates in excess of 170 MW of biogas power generation.
 Further information: www.energ-group.com

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Once its landfill gas-to-energy projects were completed, the City of Johannesburg will be able to generate 19 MW of electricity, which could be used by about 12 500 middle-income households.

The city explained in a statement that landfill gas was mainly made up of methane, carbon dioxide (CO2) and oxygen, of which methane had the most harmful effect the ozone layer.

“The landfill gas-to-energy projects decrease environmental damaged by reducing methane emissions. Methane is sucked through the combination of vertical and horizontal pipes to the flare system where it is burnt and released as CO2 which is less harmful than methane gas.”

The city had, to date, successfully implemented two landfill gas-to-energy projects and would soon be starting construction on the final three.

Currently, landfill gas was extracted, combusted and flared as CO2 to generate electricity at the Robinson Deep landfill site and the Marie Louise project.

The Robinson Deep landfill was completed in May 2011. Initially 68 gas wells were installed with the number to be increased during the second phase of the project, while the Marie Louise project started in February 2012, with 28 wells having been installed.

In future, landfill gas-to-energy sites would also be established at the Goudkoppies, Ennerdale and Linbro Park landfills.

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