CREATING VALUE THROUGH RENEWABLE ENERGY CONVERSION OF A COAL FIRED ELECTRIC UTILITY BOILER TO CO FIRE LANDFILL GAS

摘要

Tucson Electric Power Company (TEP) recently converted it's Irvington Generating Station (IGS) unit 4, a local coal and gas fired electric utility boiler, to co-fire landfill gas. The project was the result of the combined efforts of the City of Tucson, which owns the Los Reales Landfill, Zahren Alternative Power Corporation (ZAPCO), the developer of the project, Tucson Electric Power Company, the electric utility, and Applied Utility Systems (AUS), the Project Engineer. The primary focus of the paper will be on the boiler conversion and the value created by the project. The major benefits derived from the project are as follows: 1. Control and utilization of methane emissions from the landfill which would otherwise be displaced into the atmosphere thus causing an environmental hazard. 2. Savings to the City of Tucson in avoidance costs for installing landfill gas emissions control systems. 3. Revenue and tax credits to ZAPCO from the LFG system. 4. Environmental benefits due to cleaner emissions from the boiler by burning LFG as compared to coal. 5. Fuel savings to TEP from using LFG versus coal and natural gas. 6. TEP energy credits for the use of Renewables.