The City of Cape Town is nearing the production of electricity from landfill gas – a project known as “Waste to Energy”. Although only a small amount of electricity will be produced at this stage, the successful implementation of this project is an important milestone in the journey towards overall sustainability.

Alderman Grant Twigg, Mayoral Committee Member for Urban Waste Management, and Councillor Beverley Van Reenen, Mayoral Committee Member for Energy, yesterday, 15 March, visited the Coastal Park Landfill site to check progress on the City’s Waste-to-Energy project.

Engines have been delivered to site, and are currently in the process of being connected to the landfill gas extraction system that has been operational since March 2018. It is expected that the project will generate approximately 2MW that will be added to the City’s grid, and offset some demand from Eskom whose energy prices continue to escalate.

2MW is only a very small fraction of the City’s total demand, hence this is unlikely to provide extra protection from load-shedding or enable a reduction in tariffs. It is however an important step forward in the City’s mission to reduce reliance on the state power utility and meeting emission reduction targets.

The project works on the combustion of landfill gas, which is primarily made up of methane. which has a global warming potential 25 times greater than carbon dioxide. Perforated pipes or “wells” are dug into the landfill site to extract the gas. The wells are then connected to the flare compound where it is combusted or diverted to a gas engine to generate electricity. If gas is not used in the engine, it will be flared.

The project has also been designed in such a way that the City can earn ‘carbon credits’. A carbon credit is earned when an entity destroys one ton of greenhouse gas, that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere, and they can be sold as emission offsets under the carbon tax through the Carbon Offset Administration System.

‘We definitely have a long way to go as a society before we reach sustainability, but projects like this give hope that with human creativity anything is possible,’ said Alderman Twigg.

‘The City is currently focused on renewable energy purchases and generation, and other energy efficiency interventions to reduce our dependence on Eskom over time. We are prioritising energy sector reform and climate change mitigation, which remain of great importance given our country’s energy constraints and the changing energy governance landscape. The City remains committed to all new ways of thinking to ensure that our city is future-fit. Waste-to-Energy is the ultimate form of energy efficiency and we welcome this initiative,’ said Councillor Van Reenen.

Source: City Of Cape Town