By Francesca Brindle, Hydrocarbon Engineering.
Ameresco, Inc., a leading renewable energy and energy efficiency company, and the City of Phoenix have hosted a ceremonial groundbreaking event for the start of a multi-million dollar wastewater treatment biogas utilisation project at the 91st Ave wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). Once operational, it is expected to be the largest wastewater treatment biogas-to-renewable natural gas facility of its kind in the US. The attendees at the event heard from a variety of speakers including City leaders and Ameresco representatives.
Ameresco will design, build, own, operate and maintain (DBOOM) the wastewater biogas-to-energy facility. The WWTP is owned by the Sub-Regional Operating Group (SROG) made up of Phoenix, Glendale, Mesa, Scottsdale, and Tempe, and serves these cities. The WWTP is operated by the City of Phoenix. The 91st Ave biogas project, expected to be operational in late 2017, will process the raw biogas generated in the anaerobic digesters into renewable natural gas (RNG) that will be sold to the vehicle market through the nation’s natural gas pipeline grid. The biogas is a mixture of various gasses (mostly methane and carbon dioxide) produced through the anaerobic decomposition of organic matter delivered to the WWTP. With a project size of 3250 ft3/min. capacity, the project is expected to be the largest of its kind in the US.