Waste-To-Electricity Technology Could Provide Up To 200MW Of Base-Load Generation
April 2nd, 2008
Chris Mole, Associate Editor
• Auckland Councils considering plant
• Eliminates need for recycling
• Conventional waste industry stalling
An Auckland company, which has developed a process to turn household rubbish into electricity, claims there is sufficient waste in the Auckland region alone to fire a 50MW base-load power station. Wastesaver NZ is close to signing a deal to build a 15MW waste-to-electricity plant at Kawerau, which will consume about 500 tonnes of rubbish a day from the Bay of Plenty and further afield, with the power being supplied to Norske Skog’s paper mill.
Wastesaver NZ CEO John Fistonich believes the technology has huge potential to help towards the Govt’s 90% renewable energy target. Fistonich says his company is in talks with Councils around NZ and there is considerable interest in the technology. But vested interests in the conventional waste management industry are fighting hard to stall it. Waitakere and North Shore City Councils are looking at a joint-venture to build a waste-to-electricity plant at Henderson, and projects are also at the discussion stage in other parts of NZ.
Wastesaver NZ is using a process developed in the US by Prof Michael Eley. It uses hot water to “steam clean” the waste and capture all volatile gases, producing a sterilised cellulose, which is then made into pellets. The pellets can be used to fire a power station instead of coal, with virtually zero carbon emissions or air pollution.
The cost of generation using the process is about 7c/kWh, which is competitive with other forms of generation. Fistonich says the technology can process virtually all household and commercial rubbish, including items now recycled. Thus it would eliminate the need for recycling if it was adopted throughout NZ.
Fistonich notes Auckland produces about 2000t of rubbish a day, which could fuel a 50MW Wastesaver plant. It would not only provide a valuable base-load power station for the city but also eliminate the seven-figure annual amounts being spent on recycling (and recycling education) in the Auckland region and take 90% of rubbish trucks from the road.
If all NZ’s household and commercial rubbish was processed in this way, it could provide up to 200MW of base-load electricity generation. Fistonich says Councils around NZ are showing varying degrees of interest in Wastesaver’s technology. Most resistance is from those with a vested interest in the status quo of putting rubbish “in a hole in the ground,” for example, he notes Christchurch City Council is a shareholder in the Kate Valley landfill.
Wastesaver NZ is also in discussions with one of Aust’s largest waste management companies to launch the technology there. Fistonich says the US is now leading the way in waste-to-electricity technology, with California looking to build up to 30 plants across the state. The technology is also being used in the US to produce ethanol.
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