A CASE STUDY IN FLEXIBILITY: THE EVOLUTION OF GAS RECOVERY SYSTEMS' SACRAMENTO MEDIUM BTU GAS SALES PLANT

摘要

The Gas Recovery Systems (GRS) Sacramento Plant is located at the Sacramento City Landfill on 28th Street near downtown Sacramento, California. GRS entered into a landfill gas lease agreement with the City of Sacramento. GRS developed the landfill by installing a gas collection system and flare. GRS initially planned to install an electrical generation plant at the site but ended up signing an agreement to sell landfill gas to the California Almond Growers Exchange (CAGE―the producers of Blue Diamond Almonds) for use in their power plant nearly a mile away. The CAGE Co-Generation plant generated electricity for sale to Pacific Gas & Electric and steam for use in the almond roasting process using a mixture of almond shells, woodwaste and natural gas. The natural gas used in the boiler would be augmented by the addition of landfill gas. Construction began in 1989 of the gas collection system, a flare station and pipeline to the CAGE plant and with expansions has remained in operation to the present day. The Sacramento Plant is one of the early direct sales projects that have become very common in recent years. The uniqueness of this project is the way the plant/gas collection system has evolved over the years while remaining a profitable operation for GRS and saving CAGE the fuel costs of natural gas. This paper covers the evolution and development of the Sacramento Plant and some of the lessons learned along the way.