Innovation in Global Power - Parsons Brinckerhoff

Renewables – The Risks, Concerns and Potential
Project Challenges Met on Time
We started working with the project developer, Beacon
Energy, in September of 2004 to meet the first challenge of
this project, which was to get project financing. It was at this
early stage that we elected to team up with EMCOR Energy
and Technology. Working with these two firms, we reviewed
the feasibility of both projects, evaluated technical alternatives,
visited the project sites, and developed preliminary
engineering solutions that would meet the technical and
commercial requirements. These efforts were successfully
culminated when in July of 2006 the project received $60
million in non-recourse financing from John Hancock Financial
Services, Inc. A key factor in obtaining the non-recourse
financing was the guarantees of schedule, cost, and
performance in the EPC contract between Beacon Energy
and EMCOR.
Engineering and design of the two projects started in July of
2006 with the execution of the EPC contract. The challenges
that faced PB during engineering and design included:
• Specification and procurement of the gas blowers, compressors,
Air Liquide membrane units, hydrogen sulfide removal
system, electrical switchgear, and plant control systems
• Coordination of the plant design with the upgrade of the
landfill gas collection system, modification to the landfill gas
flares, pipeline to interstate gas pipeline system, and utility
electrical interconnection
• Site civil grading and drainage
• Building and equipment foundations
• Mechanical piping systems
• Electrical power and control systems
• Plant control system.
Construction of the Greentree Gas Processing Facility started
in October of 2006 and was completed in August of 2007; and
construction of the Imperial Gas Processing Facility started in
November of 2006 and was completed in September of
2007. The aggressive construction schedule could not have
been achieved without the cooperation of the members of
PB’s civil engineering group and power hydro structural
group, who were responsible for the site civil, grading and
drainage, building foundation, and equipment foundation design.
Project Successes
Upon the completion of construction, PB conducted the
performance testing to ensure that each facility was in
compliance with the performance requirements in the
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contract. They were, and both projects have been operating
continuously since turnover to the client. They had many
notable commercial, technical, and environmental
accomplishments, including those that follow.
Most Notable Commercial Accomplishment. These are
the only landfill gas projects that have qualified for long-term
non-recourse project financing. Project financing was difficult
to obtain due to the size and complexity of the projects and
the fact that unproven new technology would be used to
process the landfill gas.
Major Technical Accomplishment. The engineering and
design of the landfill gas processing equipment and control
systems was the major technical accomplishment. The
membrane separation technology used to separate the
methane gas from the landfill gas had never been used
before at the scale of the Imperial and Greentree Projects.
PB and EMCOR had to perform extensive engineering and
design to integrate the gas collection, compression, moisture
removal, hydrogen sulfide removal, and gas separation
technologies into a seamless process that could run
unattended 24 hours a day. A complete and fully automated
plant control system had to be developed to allow the plant
to be operated safely.
Most Impressive Environmental Benefit. Harmful
greenhouse gases were eliminated from the environment
and converted into green energy, thereby also reducing
dependency on foreign sources of energy. A quantification
of environmental benefits, using the EPA’s Landfill Gas Energy
(LFGE) Benefits Calculator, yields annual benefits equivalent
to any one of the following, based on 15,000 standard cubic
feet/minute (402 Nm 3 /min) of landfill gas being processed:
• Reducing CO2 emissions by more than 200,000 tons/year
• Removing emissions equivalent to more than 340,000 vehicles
• Planting the equivalent of more than 490,000 acres of forest
• Displacing the use of 4.0 million barrels of oil
• Producing enough energy to heat approximately 112,000
homes.
The significant technical and environmental accomplishments
were recognized when the EPA’s Landfill Methane Outreach
Program (LMOP) awarded the Greentree Project the
2007 EPA Project of the Year Award.
Related Web Sites:
• www.epa.gov/landfill
Roger Lemos is a vice president with the PB Power group in Boston. Since starting with PB in 1994, Roger has worked on power projects throughout the USA ranging
from 4 to 640 megawatts.
55 PB Network #68 / August 2008