A landfill in Sandtown will help power Kent County next year under a new agreement with the Delaware Electric Cooperative.
Communications Manager Jeremy Tucker says the Delaware Solid Waste Authority has agreed to sell electricity generated on-site by two methane-gas engines.
“There are pipes leading all over the landfill at Sandtown and those pipes extract the methane from the landfill. They direct it to the methane-driven engines. The engines then turn the methane into electricity, basically by burning the gas,” said Tucker.
Renewable energy company Ameresco is funding the project which will add the engines to its power plant already at the landfill.
The Co-op has contracted to buy two megawatts of electricity, enough to power about a thousand homes. Tucker says customers should not expect a change in their electricity rates.
The move helps the company expand its renewable energy portfolio. By 2025, state law mandates that at least 5 percent of an energy company’s power come from renewable sources. The Greenwood-based utility is also building a 20-acre solar farm near Georgetown.
Tucker says the project also fits into the company's long-term goal of sustainability.
“First, the project is good for the environment. Second, it provides our members with cost-effective electricity. We’re buying the power below market prices, which should provide for stable rates into the future. And finally, it’s being produced right here in Delaware. We’re not paying for the energy to be sent from a power plant in Virginia or New York or somewhere," said Tucker.
Construction is set to begin this summer and completed by next spring. According to the EPA, the project is expected to reduce emissions produced from decomposing waste at the landfill by at least 60 percent.