MCLB landfill gas energy program completed

Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany, Dougherty County and Chevron Energy Solutions today completed the Department of the Navy's first landfill gas power plant.

PUBLIC AFFAIRS MCLB ALBANY

NEWS RELEASE

Date: September 23, 2011

POC:  Deputy Public Affairs Officer Mr. Colie Young

Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany, Dougherty County, Chevron Energy Solutions

complete Department of the Navy's first landfill gas power plant

Landfill methane is captured and converted to 1.9 MW renewal power

MARINE CORPS LOGISTICS BASE Albany, Ga. – Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany, Dougherty County Georgia and Chevron Energy Solutions today celebrated completion of the Department of the Navy's first landfill gas (LFG) cogeneration plant.

This will bring the base's total renewal energy use to 22 percent overall, which exceeds the EPAct of 2005 and Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 mandate of 7.5 percent renewable power use by 2013.

MCLB Albany and Dougherty County entered into a 20-year partnership (with a five-year option to extend) which allows the county to sell landfill gas produced at the Fleming/Gaissert Road Landfill to MCLB Albany.  The LFG will be used to operate a

1.9 MW combined heat and power generator.

Dougherty County owns and operates the Fleming/Gaissert Road Landfill located off of Fleming Road across from MCLB Albany.

The new facility is designed to allow MCLB Albany to use LFG to produce electricity on site, which will offset the purchase of electricity as well as natural gas for steam production.  In addition to energy efficiency, reduced conventional energy use and renewable energy cogeneration, this will also provide energy security and reliability benefits.  The LFG power plant can operate in parallel with the utility or in island mode, and can run using only LFG or LFG blended with natural gas.  In the event of an electrical utility outage, the generator will provide power to the maintenance center's critical loads, which are essential to supporting various Marine Corps missions worldwide.

This benefits Dougherty County by allowing for cost-effective use of the LFG asset of the landfill.  The joint partnership between county and federal government to use a commodity that will help reduce the use of fossil fuels highlights the strong community support MCLB Albany has.

            The landfill receives approximately 100,000 tons of municipal solid waste (MSW) per year.  Biological decomposition of MSW generates LFG, of which the primary component is methane.  Methane is the main component of natural gas that has value as an energy source.  LFG recovery and utilization has been used at landfills for decades.  Currently, there are more than 420 LFG energy projects operating in the United States.

Dougherty County will be responsible for extracting the gas from the landfill to MCLB Albany's processing equipment.  MCLB Albany will be responsible for processing, compressing and transmitting the landfill gas to the base.  Chevron Energy Solutions was awarded the contract to execute this renewable energy project.

Chevron developed and designed the project and will maintain the landfill gas-to-energy facility, pipeline and LFG processing equipment.  The new facility houses a dual-fuel engine generator, a stack heat recovery steam generator and two dual-fuel boilers.

This effort has extended for more than four years and has involved 50 lead representatives from seven Department of Defense commands, one Department of Energy agency, two private sector companies and the county government.  Scores of engineers, attorneys, contracting officers and other technical experts all brought into the process.

It will cost $14 million to implement the LFG portion of the energy savings performance contract with Chevron; however, MCLB Albany will save $1,150,790 annually in utility operations.  These measures will reduce the base's purchase of utility power and diminish MCLB Albany's carbon emissions by 19,300 tons annually, equivalent to removing 16,000 cars from the road.

This is only one effort by MCLB Albany in creating the premiere green base in the Department of Defense.