Greentech Lead Canada: Plasco Energy Group announced that
it will build a 150,000 tons per year Waste Conversion Facility in Ottawa,
Ontario, Canada. The announcement comes after the City of Ottawa announced on
December 14th signing agreements with Plasco.
The Facility will be built to the Plasco Conversion
System (PCS) design and will incorporate three proprietary Integrated
Converting and Refining System (ICARS) modules.
Effective throughput of the facility will be 130,000 tons
per year. Under the contract announced by Ottawa, the City will supply 109,500
tons per year of Ottawa’s municipal solid waste and has a right of first
refusal to supply the balance of plant capacity. The first 20 years are firm
with four 5 year extensions at the option of the City. Construction is expected
to commence in the second half of 2013 with commercial operation planned for
the first half of 2015.
The City has leased to Plasco for nominal cost the site
for the facility and will pay a tipping fee for each ton processed of $83.25
per ton, escalating annually at the rate of increase in the Consumer Price
Index. Ottawa makes no other financial contribution and will have no other risk
or obligation.
The City estimates that the deal will extend the life of
Ottawa’s existing landfill by at least 28 years saving the City approximately
$250 million in future landfill capital costs.
The PCS breaks down garbage using Plasco’s patented ICARS
system, which gasifies the waste and refines the resulting gas using plasma
technology. Clean, synthetic gas created from the waste fuels General Electric
Jenbacher internal combustion engines, together with a steam turbine driven by
heat recovered from the process and engines, to produce approximately 15MW of
net electricity that will be sold to the grid.
Residual solids are refined using Plasma to produce slag
which meets requirements for a range of applications, including construction
aggregates and abrasives. Moisture in the waste is recovered, cleaned and made
available for reuse in the community.
There are no emissions to atmosphere in the conversion
process. The synthetic gas is consumed as fuel by the engines with any unused
gas sent to a flare. Exhaust from the engines and flare have emission levels
significantly below the most stringent standards in the world.
The ICARS modules will be manufactured in Ontario and
site construction and assembly of the PCS will create about 200 construction
jobs. The facility will permanently employ 42 operations technicians.
Construction and operation of the Facility will be
subject to receipt of and compliance with the terms of Environmental Compliance
Certificates to be issued by the Ontario Ministry of the Environment.