A combination of increasing electric rates at Fort Richardson and a requirement that the Anchorage Regional Landfill flare methane gas generated by garbage has produced a project to use landfill gas to produce electricity for Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson near Anchorage.
Four of five generators for the project are in the test phase.
Aimee Oravec, attorney for project developer Doyon Utilities LLC, told the Regulatory Commission of Alaska on Aug. 15 that after years of working on the issue, the Municipality of Anchorage solicited proposals for a project in 2010, a bid won by Doyon Utilities.
Oravec said the main terms of the contract between Doyon Utilities and the city include Doyon Utilities designing, building, operating and maintaining a gas process module with associated pipelines on the Anchorage Regional Landfill, with the municipality owning the landfill properties.
Doyon Utilities has also built a landfill gas-fired electric generation plant on JBER, helping JBER meet requirements under federal legislation that 7 1/2 percent of its energy be from a renewable source.
The project allows JBER to replace more than 25 percent of its total usage, Oravec said, and Doyon Utilities has been able to beat the Municipal Light & Power price for electric power and in July was authorized to increase the size of the project.
Oravec said the original project bid was for three generators with a fourth to be added in the fifth year of the project, but a fifth generator has now been added.
By KRISTEN NELSON
Petroleum News