June 23, 2010 - Nexterra Systems Corp., a biomass gasification company, announced today that Catawba County’s Board of Commissioners has voted to proceed with a new biomass-fuelled combined heat and power system (CHP System) developed by Nexterra in conjunction with GE Power & Water’s gas engine division.
This new CHP System, located at Catawba County’s award winning EcoComplex, will produce 2 megawatts of clean, cost-effective green electricity for sale to a local utility. Waste heat from the engines will be used to dry biosolids produced at a new waste water treatment facility. This unique bioenergy system will be the first of its kind in the United States.
Wood waste diverted from Catawba’s landfill will be gasified and converted into clean synthetic gas (or “syngas”) using Nexterra proprietary gasification technology. The syngas will be directly fired into a GE gas engine. The System will be capable of providing very high net efficiencies – up to 65 percent in CHP mode – which makes it economic at small scale.
“This new CHP System represents a paradigm shift away from large, centralized biomass plants to a network of decentralized, smaller and more efficient biomass plants ideally suited for counties and municipalities,” said Barry Edwards, Director of Utilities and Engineering for Catawba County. “We are delighted to move forward on this project with Nexterra and GE. Not only will the system generate additional revenue for the County, but it will also reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, stimulate local economic development and extend the life of our landfill.”
Catawba County already produces 2.5 megawatts of electricity from landfill gas using GE Jenbacher gas engines. The new biomass CHP System will complement the existing landfill gas power system. It will use a similar Jenbacher gas engine except that it will operate on syngas produced by gasifying wood waste instead of landfill gas.
“Catawba County is a great example of how the Nexterra/GE CHP solution can help local governments achieve their energy and sustainability goals,” said Jonathan Rhone, President and CEO of Nexterra. “For Catawba, green energy is an economic development priority. The County has access to its own supply of wood fuel and already produces electricity using gas engines. We look forward to working with Catawba to demonstrate this new standard of small scale distributed biomass power generation.”