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Breaking News in the Project Management World
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Landfill Gas Project in Durban Develops
Reported by Jaycee Krüger in Johannesburg
The second component of the eThekwini Durban landfill gas to electricity Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project was launched by Energy Minister Dipuo Peters on 28 January. This component of the project involves the extraction of landfill gas (between 40% and 60% methane) at the Bisasar Road landfill site through extraction wells and interlinking pipe work. The methane gas drives purpose built alternators which currently already generates 6,5 MW at the Bisasar Road landfill compound with a further 1-MW at the Mariannhill Landfill site, totaling 7,5 MW.
The entire project, which includes the initial Mariannhill and La Mercy sites, is the first landfill CDM project in South Africa. The total project expenditure is estimated to be about R100-million (around US$8million).
The CDM, under the Kyoto Protocol, allows project owners in South Africa to generate an additional revenue stream through the sale of carbon credits to developed countries. The project income revenue is estimated at about R4,5-million (around US$600k) a month, which will be realized from both the sale of carbon credits and the sale of electricity.
The landfill gas projects are contributing toward global environmental improvement as it effectively captures methane gas which escapes from the landfill, and use it to generate clean electric power, thus cutting down on greenhouse gas emissions. The landfill projects also displace some of the electricity generated from coal, a significant greenhouse gas emissions contributor.
The UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) indicates on its website that 68 833 t/y of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent are offset from Mariannhill and La Mercy and 342 705 t/y of CO2 equivalent are offset at Bisasar.
For more information, visit http://www.durban.gov.za/durban/services/cleansing/gastoelec/landfill.
The second component of the eThekwini Durban landfill gas to electricity Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project was launched by Energy Minister Dipuo Peters on 28 January. This component of the project involves the extraction of landfill gas (between 40% and 60% methane) at the Bisasar Road landfill site through extraction wells and interlinking pipe work. The methane gas drives purpose built alternators which currently already generates 6,5 MW at the Bisasar Road landfill compound with a further 1-MW at the Mariannhill Landfill site, totaling 7,5 MW.
The CDM, under the Kyoto Protocol, allows project owners in South Africa to generate an additional revenue stream through the sale of carbon credits to developed countries. The project income revenue is estimated at about R4,5-million (around US$600k) a month, which will be realized from both the sale of carbon credits and the sale of electricity.
The landfill gas projects are contributing toward global environmental improvement as it effectively captures methane gas which escapes from the landfill, and use it to generate clean electric power, thus cutting down on greenhouse gas emissions. The landfill projects also displace some of the electricity generated from coal, a significant greenhouse gas emissions contributor.
The UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) indicates on its website that 68 833 t/y of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent are offset from Mariannhill and La Mercy and 342 705 t/y of CO2 equivalent are offset at Bisasar.
For more information, visit http://www.durban.gov.za/durban/services/cleansing/gastoelec/landfill.