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Public Works, Energy & Utilities Sludge-to-biogas project draws stimulus funding
Mass Innovations, From The Beacon, April 2010
A project that may eventually generate enough energy to supply the needs of the wastewater treatment plant and six other municipal structures in Fairhaven has qualified for $7.9 million in federal stimulus funding.
A key element of the plan involves generating heat and electricity through the use of an anaerobic digester, which converts sewer sludge to biogas. While anaerobic digestion is already in place in a handful of other wastewater districts in the state, including at the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority’s Deer Island treatment plan, the existing systems typically are much larger and rely on technology that is at least 20 years old.
Fairhaven’s anaerobic digester will reduce the electricity needed to run the wastewater plant by about one third, according to Public Works Superintendent Bill Fitzgerald. It also will reduce by as much as 50 percent what Fairhaven currently pays to transport and dispose of its sludge at an incinerator in Cranston, R.I.
The federal stimulus money, which is channeled through the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, will cover the cost of installing solar panels on the wastewater treatment plant.
The solar panels are scheduled to in place this summer, with the anaerobic digester expected to be completed by the following summer. The town’s longer-term goal is to create a cluster of seven public buildings that generate more energy than they use.
“The buzzword is ‘net-zero energy,’” Fitzgerald said. “Between efficiency and generating energy, you’d basically not be pulling any energy from the grid.”
A major part of the project is a pair of 1.65-megawatt wind turbines. The wind-power project was approved by Town Meeting in 2007, although it remains in question whether the developer will be able to go forward with the project, according to Fairhaven Executive Secretary Jeff Osuch.
Town officials also are exploring the possibility of drawing geothermal energy – also known as “ground-source heating” – to reduce the cost of heating and ventilating the wastewater treatment plant. The town’s capped landfill, meanwhile, will likely serve as a site for an additional solar array.
The anaerobic digester and the solar panels to be built at the wastewater treatment plant are expected to reduce operating costs by about $300,ooo a year. Fitzgerald said that even without the stimulus money, the project eventually would have paid for itself. But without the federal assistance, he said, it likely would have been several more years before the anaerobic digester could have gotten under way.
Fitzgerald credits the town’s consultant, Brown and Caldwell, with enabling Fairhaven to meet last September’s deadline for obtaining stimulus funds for green energy projects. Town officials learned that the project had qualified for the stimulus funding at the end of July. The approval, however, was contingent on having plans and specifications on file five weeks later.
The federal money is channeled through the Massachusetts Energy Management Pilot, which provides what technically are no-interest loans but function as grants. About 20 other municipal water and wastewater projects have received stimulus funding through the Energy Management Pilot.
For more information about the Fairhaven project, contact Bill Fitzgerald at (508) 979-4030.
Public Works, Energy & Utilities Sludge-to-biogas project draws stimulus funding
Sludge-to-biogas project draws stimulus funding
Mass Innovations, From The Beacon, April 2010
A project that may eventually generate enough energy to supply the needs of the wastewater treatment plant and six other municipal structures in Fairhaven has qualified for $7.9 million in federal stimulus funding.
A key element of the plan involves generating heat and electricity through the use of an anaerobic digester, which converts sewer sludge to biogas. While anaerobic digestion is already in place in a handful of other wastewater districts in the state, including at the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority’s Deer Island treatment plan, the existing systems typically are much larger and rely on technology that is at least 20 years old.
Fairhaven’s anaerobic digester will reduce the electricity needed to run the wastewater plant by about one third, according to Public Works Superintendent Bill Fitzgerald. It also will reduce by as much as 50 percent what Fairhaven currently pays to transport and dispose of its sludge at an incinerator in Cranston, R.I.
The federal stimulus money, which is channeled through the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, will cover the cost of installing solar panels on the wastewater treatment plant.
The solar panels are scheduled to in place this summer, with the anaerobic digester expected to be completed by the following summer. The town’s longer-term goal is to create a cluster of seven public buildings that generate more energy than they use.
“The buzzword is ‘net-zero energy,’” Fitzgerald said. “Between efficiency and generating energy, you’d basically not be pulling any energy from the grid.”
A major part of the project is a pair of 1.65-megawatt wind turbines. The wind-power project was approved by Town Meeting in 2007, although it remains in question whether the developer will be able to go forward with the project, according to Fairhaven Executive Secretary Jeff Osuch.
Town officials also are exploring the possibility of drawing geothermal energy – also known as “ground-source heating” – to reduce the cost of heating and ventilating the wastewater treatment plant. The town’s capped landfill, meanwhile, will likely serve as a site for an additional solar array.
The anaerobic digester and the solar panels to be built at the wastewater treatment plant are expected to reduce operating costs by about $300,ooo a year. Fitzgerald said that even without the stimulus money, the project eventually would have paid for itself. But without the federal assistance, he said, it likely would have been several more years before the anaerobic digester could have gotten under way.
Fitzgerald credits the town’s consultant, Brown and Caldwell, with enabling Fairhaven to meet last September’s deadline for obtaining stimulus funds for green energy projects. Town officials learned that the project had qualified for the stimulus funding at the end of July. The approval, however, was contingent on having plans and specifications on file five weeks later.
The federal money is channeled through the Massachusetts Energy Management Pilot, which provides what technically are no-interest loans but function as grants. About 20 other municipal water and wastewater projects have received stimulus funding through the Energy Management Pilot.
For more information about the Fairhaven project, contact Bill Fitzgerald at (508) 979-4030.
Written by MMA Associate Editor Mitch Evich
