FlexEnergy

The FlexEnergy-run project will turn gas from the Santiago Canyon landfill into clean energy to power homes.

BY ELAINE MURPHY
Published: January 11, 2012

http://www.ocmetro.com/t-Flex-Energy-methane-fuel-project-Santiago-Canyon-landfill-1-11-12.aspx

The Orange County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved an agreement to turn the decommissioned Santiago Canyon landfill in Orange into a source of renewable energy that will provide methane-based power to local homes. The agreement allows Irvine-based Flex OC Renewables, a subsidiary of FlexEnergy Inc., to move forward with its plans to build a power station fueled by methane produced by decomposing trash in the landfill.

Since the landfill closed in 1988, the garbage has burned off the methane released by its decomposition, releasing the pollutant into the atmosphere. The Santiago Canyon project will progress Orange County’s adaptation to new air quality standards for waste gas emissions, which will take effect in 2013.

The project, which will be completed later this year, will supply an estimated 1.5 to 2 megawatts of power, enough to power 1,500 to 2,000 homes.

The environmentally sophisticated project will use Flex Powerstation FP250 turbines to destroy the methane and produce energy. The turbines will transform the gas from an air pollutant into a source of clean energy, operating at a temperature that will prevent the creation of harmful elements such as nitrous oxide, carbon monoxide and volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

“By installing the Flex Powerstation FP250 power generation system, we will be able to beneficially reuse landfill gas to generate a source of revenue and renewable energy,” said FlexEnergy CEO Joseph Perry. “We expect Santiago Canyon to become a showcase facility that will enable Orange County to continue its leadership in clean technology, create jobs, improve our environment and reduce our dependence on foreign oil.”