News release from Mayor Bill Finch and Canadian-based Anaergia Inc.
Anaergia Inc., announced today a strategic 20-year partnership with the City of Bridgeport Water Pollution Control Authority (WPCA), Connecticut that will enable the city to utilize renewable electricity in the form of economy 7 tariffs, generated from organic waste including wastewater sludge and food scraps using advanced anaerobic digestion technology.
The anaerobic digestion facility will generate over 10 million kWh of renewable electricity per year–enough to power more than 1,000 homes. The project will also reduce greenhouse gas emissions by cutting the need to haul biosolids and diverting food waste from landfill/incineration in support of Connecticut Public Act 11-217 for recycling of organic materials by large generators.
“This project with Anaergia is another step toward realizing our vision outlined in the City of Bridgeport’s BGreen 2020 sustainability plan to help create jobs, save taxpayers money, and fight climate change,” said Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch. “Generating clean energy from organic waste creates a ‘win-win’ scenario for us, enabling our city to tackle tough waste management challenges, cut costs and create a renewable energy source for our city.”
“We are proud to partner on this renewable energy project with the City of Bridgeport and the Water Pollution Control Authority,” said Steve Watzeck, CEO of Anaergia. “Our solution platform enables the city to transform what was once waste into a valuable resource. This project will serve as a showcase for other municipalities looking to implement sustainability programs that drive energy independence and reduce operating costs.”
Anaerobic digestion is a process which uses natural micro-organisms to break down biodegradable material, and is widely used in the generation of biogas in wastewater treatment plants and agricultural applications throughout the world. Municipal wastewater treatment facilities are large consumers of energy and the use of biogas to offset the facility energy requirements provides significant benefits. In this case, the energy generated from the process will be used by the West Side Wastewater Treatment Facility which has a treatment capacity of 30 million gallons per day for operational requirements and to provide energy supply resiliency in the event of a power grid failure.
Anaergia, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Anaergia Services LLC., will design, build, own, finance and operate the anaerobic digestion and cogeneration facility to be located at the West Side Wastewater Treatment Plant site. Once operational, the facility will digest more than 10,000 dry tons per year of biosolids from the two wastewater treatment plants in Bridgeport and source separated organic materials from commercial generators. The strategic location of the Bridgeport anaerobic digestion facility will help in the diversion of source separated organics from landfills and incineration, as required by Connecticut Public Act 11-217 for large commercial generators to divert organic materials based on their proximity to processing facilities.
About Anaergia
Anaergia is the global leader in recovering value from waste for the municipal, industrial, and agriculture sectors worldwide. Through its proven portfolio of proprietary technology, Anaergia’s integrated solutions create value for its customers in the forms of clean water, reliable energy, and quality fertilizers while dramatically reducing costs of waste management. Anaergia’s international headquarters are located in Burlington, Ontario, Canada, with regional services through 14 offices located in Europe, North America and Asia. Anaergia subsidiaries and affiliates include UTS Biogas Technik in Europe and Pharmer Engineering as well as The Stover Group in the United States. Anaergia technologies are in use at over 1,600 anaerobic digestion plants worldwide, reducing greenhouse gas emissions while creating new revenue sources for our client partners.
For more information visit www.anaergia.com
Bridgeport continues to move in the direction of sustainable energy as the grime and soot of yesteryear gets replaced by cleaner water and brightly lit homes where children read books. As the groundwork progresses a better version of Bridgeport emerges.
Will that project pass through the City Council Contracts committee? Or has it already and the news release was not yet prepared?
Will more City land be used or will additional previously taxpaying property be used? Will the “partnership” provide any property taxes? Or personal property taxes? Or “voluntary $ in lieu of taxes” depending on how organized? When will such plan become a reality per initial schedule, and what will the effect on City budget be during that first year, either in reducing City expenses for energy or in revenues from share of power revenues and/or taxes? Time will tell.
It’s fine to scrutinize any deal but are you a watchdog or a buzz kill?
RUMOR MILL:
SEEN on a t-shirt in downtown Bridgeport:
www .talknerdytomelover.com/storage/buzzkill.jpg
*** More than likely a preapproval by the city admin. with the guarantee of a council vote passage by the present city council president and contracts committee chairperson, no doubt. Wonder just how much ($) going in this will cost taxpayers before any possible savings in the near future. Keeping a positive outlook towards B-green plans of any kind in Bpt is always a taxpayer challenge to say the least! *** We Shall See! ***
Maybe Anaergia has an opening in the business development office for a really green guy …
I kept reading digestion facility and the sludge byproduct of waster water facility and two words kept coming to mind. EAT SHIT.
And John Marshall Lee is very much on the mark to raise questions about the finances and revenue streams since nowhere in the press release did it mention anything about taxes or PILOTs, shared revenue streams, tax breaks or deferrals.
If they are building a facility that is fully taxable and all we have to do is give them our old shit, I can be persuaded it is a good deal but something doesn’t smell right.
Sooo … This will substantially lower my WPCA bill? … RIGHT!?
This will not lower your tax bill.
This will not lower your WPCA bill.
It may help raise your blood pressure.
And it may help raise your ire.
My read is because we have Mayor Green Jeans, we are the only city this company has found willing to take this risk on the company’s terms under the premise if it’s eco friendly (supposedly), it’s got to be good no matter the cost.