“Zero-Waste Ottawa” to Benefit from Innovative, Privately Financed Waste-to-Energy Plant
The City of Ottawa and PlascoEnergy Group formed a partnership in 2006 to demonstrate a municipal waste gasification plant (pictured on the right), which was constructed in 2007 and capable of converting 75 tonnes per day of unsorted solid waste into electricity, using PlascoEnergy’s electric-plasma torch technology.
Each tonne of solid waste is converted into 1.2 MWh of electricity, 300 L potable quality water, 5-10 kg commercial grade salt, 150 kg of construction grade aggregate, 5 kg sulfur agricultural fertilizer, air emissions in compliance with environmental regulations, heavy metals recovered for safe disposal, and a two tonne reduction in greenhouse gases. The greenhouse gas reduction is the result of a displaced coal-fired electricity and diverted waste from landfills where it would produce methane, a highly potent greenhouse gas.
Based on the success of the Ottawa demonstration facility, PlascoEnergy has now proposed a full commercial scale 400 tonnes-per-day facility (150,000 tonnes of residual waste per year), which is expected to produce 21 MW of net electrical power for sale to Hydro Ottawa. Under the deal, which will be passed by a full council soon, the city of Ottawa will pay PlascoEnergy the standard waste tipping fee of $60/tonne (i.e. $8M per year for residential garbage that isn’t recycled or composted), no capital expenditures, and no operating expenditures. And because the city of Ottawa was a partner in testing the technology, it will get royalties of up to $3.5 million a year once Plasco plants are sold to other countries and cities and begine operating. As a comparison, city officials estimated that the costs of a new landfill could reach $150 million and approvals would take years. PlascoEnergy intends to finance the construction and commissioning of its own waste to energy facilities. The plant will cost about $125 million, all of which will be paid by the company.
The primary requirements to build a facility are a guaranteed waste stream, guaranteed sale of electricity and a location. Shown below is a computer generated image of a new plant proposed by PlascoEnergy for the City of Los Angeles: building exterior and landscaping design by Canadian architect Douglas Cardinal.
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