North Bay Hydro and the City of North Bay Joint News Release ********************** North Bay Hydro Distribution Limited and the City of North Bay are proud to announce the start of construction of the $ 4.8 Million Landfill Gas to Energy Project.
North Bay Hydro and the City of North Bay Joint News Release
**********************
North Bay Hydro Distribution Limited and the City of North Bay are proud to announce the start of construction of the $ 4.8 Million Landfill Gas to Energy Project.
The project is a culmination of over 4 years work initiated in 2007. It will generate at peak approximately 1.6 Megawatts of electricity that will be sold through the Fixed-in-Tariff (FIT) agreement. The Project is the first of its kind to be approved through the newly enacted Renewal Energy Approval process under Ontario’s Green Energy Act.
“This project has the potential to generate enough electricity to supply 1300 homes and offset approximately 45,000 tons of carbon dioxide annually,” stated Mayor Al McDonald. “We credit our staff and North Bay Hydro for their leadership and commitment to this project. They deserve all the credit.”
The construction and installation of the landfill gas generator set together with the recent construction activities and the eventual construction of a Leachate Treatment Facility will see over $10 Million invested at the Merrick Landfill Site to ensure the City’s future needs are satisfied in an environmentally responsible way.
Mayor Al McDonald's speech:
Welcome everyone to this very significant ground-breaking ceremony for North Bay’s own Merrick Landfill Gas Utilization Facility.
In the design of the Merrick Landfill Site, it was envisioned that one day the methane gas emitted from the Landfill could be collected and flared to reduce the Landfill’s carbon footprint on the environment and eventually as the Site matured potentially turned into electricity. In 2007, while the City was developing its long-term sustainability plan, it was identified that one of its single largest emitters of greenhouse gases was the methane gas emitted from the Merrick Landfill site and the time had come to minimize its impact. The City moved to capture and flare gas with the installation and commissioning of the Methane Gas Flare Station in 2007. The project was implemented with the intention of designing and installing a generator set at a later date. Results from the gas collection and destruction showed that the gas captured at the City’s landfill had the potential to generate sufficient electricity to supply 1300 homes per year at peak capacity and offset approximately 45,000 tonnes of Carbon Dioxide annually.
On behalf of The City, North Bay Hydro Distribution Limited applied and received approval from the Ontario Power Authority for a Feed-in-Tariff (FIT) agreement that will allow the Project to sell the power generated to the Grid for a guaranteed rate for 20 years. The revenues generated will fund the $ 4.8 Million project, as well as provide future revenues to help maintain the Site. The Project was the first of its kind to be approved through the newly enacted Renewal Energy Approval process under Ontario’s Green Energy Act. City staff together with North Bay Hydro worked cooperatively to overcome all technical issues associated with developing this project including how to connect this project to the local grid.
In addition, together with the recent expansion of Cell 6 which will start to be utilized this Fall to accept waste, future gas collection infrastructure construction in Cell 5 beginning in the spring of 2012, and the eventual construction of a Leachate Treatment Facility over $10,000,000 will have been invested at the Merrick Landfill Site to ensure the City’s future needs are satisfied in an environmentally responsible way while reducing our community’s carbon footprint by the equivalent of 45,000 tonnes of Carbon Dioxide (eCO2). At its peak, the energy generated by the Renewable Energy Project at Merrick Landfill will displace the demand for energy from other less environmentally sustainable sources by generating approximately 1.6 Megawatts of electricity.
This project is yet another example of the City’s commitment to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions in a sustainable way for the benefit of future generations.
Both the City of North Bay and North Bay Hydro would like to acknowledge the support and contributions of Toromont Caterpillar Power Systems who will be providing the engine and generator package and CRA Contractors Limited who have assisted with the detailed design of the system.
OTHER THANK YOUs:
To the former Council and present Council for recognizing the importance and benefits of this project and for supporting it unanimously.
To the City Hall Staff of the Engineering and Environment Services Department, especially Alan Korell and John Severino for their hard work and dedication in making this project a reality.
To Peter Bullock, Retired City Employee, for initiating the idea for the project five years ago when it was decided that the Merrick Landfill Site would move from a natural attenuation site to an Engineered Landfill Site.
To the City Hall staff of the Financial Services Department and Legal Services Department, and to our CAO Dave Linkie, for their hard work and commitment to this project.
To the Staff at the Merrick Landfill Site that has maintained the Flare System while we have been waiting for the construction of the Gen Set. And, in particular, John Miller for his efforts and dedication at keeping the Flare System and Gas Collecting field working at optimum efficiency over the last several years.
To the local MOE (Ministry of the Environment) and MNR (Ministry of Natural Resources) offices for assisting City and North Bay Hydro Staff through the new Renewable Energy Approval requirements of the Green Energy Act. The project was the first Landfill Gas-to-Energy project through the gate under the new regulations. The approval being granted in just over 1 year from initiation of the regulatory process was achieved with the guidance of the government ministries and their local staff and assistance from the Contractor (Toromont CAT) to get pertinent info in a timely fashion.
And we are where we are today in short order due to the efforts of North Bay Hydro – especially Todd Wilcox – Chief Operating Officer, CRA Contractors, Metsco and HydroOne to creatively and economically find solutions to challenges posed by installing this system here at Merrick Landfill Site without compromising safety or the ultimate performance of the completed project.
In addition, thank you to the North Bay Green community for their support. Their continuous encouragement to reduce our environmental impact on our community helps us in the City to continuously find better ways of doing things.
