Anaergia celebrates opening of CHP system

Anaergia Inc., Burlington, Ontario, announced that the company held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Nov. 7 to mark the official opening of its combined heat and power (CHP) system at the Hale Avenue Resource Recovery Facility (HARRF), in Escondido, California. This CHP system utilizes digester gas from the wastewater treatment process to generate renewable electricity and heat for the facility’s operations.

As a result of this new system, all the biogas produced by HARRF’s anaerobic digestors, which was previously flared, is now utilized to generate sustainable green energy. Anaergia and the city of Escondido have entered into a power purchase agreement so that the electricity and heat are sold by Anaergia at below-market rates for the operations of the HARRF.

The California Public Utilities Commission’s (CPUC) Self-Generation Incentive Program (SGIP) supported this project.

“The city has been continually upgrading and improving the HARRF,” Chris McKinney, director of utilities for the city of Escondido, says. “The utilization of biogas to generate renewable energy is an important step in optimizing this facility’s operations and has been a personal goal of mine.”

“The implementation of renewable energy initiatives that have a positive impact on the environment is something that is increasingly vital,” Andrew Benedek, CEO of Anaergia, says. “The fact that we are partnering with the city of Escondido to do this here at the HARRF is an achievement that has benefits both for the local community and for the environment.”

“The SGIP is a part of California’s efforts to lead the nation in the adoption of clean energy technologies,” Lindsey Hawes, assistant director at the Center for Sustainable Energy, says. “Locally, residents can benefit from projects such as this new CHP system as it produces renewable power, reduces electricity grid demand and helps curb fossil fuel-generated greenhouse gas emissions.”