AUBURN - Partnering with a Poughkeepsie firm, the city is another step closer to housing an anaerobic digester.
The Central Hudson Energy Group will fund the project, build, own and operate it.
At a press conference Thursday, C-H President Steve Lant said the company would own the electricity but would sell the power to the city at a discounted rate. However, the details haven't been worked out yet, he said.
In August, the council approved an agreement with the company to design, build, own and operate an electric power generation facility. The city will provide methane gas produced in the landfill and land next to the sewage treatment plant.
Grants paid for the feasibility study in 2004.
Lant said the facility plans to “be online” the end of next year but couldn't give a definitive time for ground breaking or completion
John Montone, chair of the Auburn Municipal Power Agency, suggested the energy could be used in the nearby technology park.
Bill Cetti, of ECO Technology Solutions, said he expects the finalized agreement in two weeks between the city and the energy group.
He estimated the engineering will be done by the end of this winter and construction could start as early as April, as long as the weather permits. He aims to see production by the December 2008.
Mayor Timothy Lattimore claims the digester would inspire $12 million in economic development, nearly the estimated size of CH Energy Group's pending investment.
Lant said partnering with the city is the best situation because the city has natural resources such as the landfill and its byproduct methane fuel.
The city plans to redirect methane gas from the incinerator to the digester, and shut down the incinerator. At some point, the water byproduct will have to be disposed somewhere else.
“We have a shared vision that renewable energy will be very important to the future,” Lant said about his company and the city.
Staff writer Jessica Soule can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 267 or jessica.soule@lee.net
At a press conference Thursday, C-H President Steve Lant said the company would own the electricity but would sell the power to the city at a discounted rate. However, the details haven't been worked out yet, he said.
In August, the council approved an agreement with the company to design, build, own and operate an electric power generation facility. The city will provide methane gas produced in the landfill and land next to the sewage treatment plant.
Grants paid for the feasibility study in 2004.
Lant said the facility plans to “be online” the end of next year but couldn't give a definitive time for ground breaking or completion
John Montone, chair of the Auburn Municipal Power Agency, suggested the energy could be used in the nearby technology park.
Bill Cetti, of ECO Technology Solutions, said he expects the finalized agreement in two weeks between the city and the energy group.
He estimated the engineering will be done by the end of this winter and construction could start as early as April, as long as the weather permits. He aims to see production by the December 2008.
Mayor Timothy Lattimore claims the digester would inspire $12 million in economic development, nearly the estimated size of CH Energy Group's pending investment.
Lant said partnering with the city is the best situation because the city has natural resources such as the landfill and its byproduct methane fuel.
The city plans to redirect methane gas from the incinerator to the digester, and shut down the incinerator. At some point, the water byproduct will have to be disposed somewhere else.
“We have a shared vision that renewable energy will be very important to the future,” Lant said about his company and the city.
Staff writer Jessica Soule can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 267 or jessica.soule@lee.net
