Smelly landfill gases become energy source

BY JACK MONEY

Published: October 3, 2008

Smelly gas isn’t so smelly for one local power generator.

Representatives of PowerSmith CogenerationTimberline Energy, Waste Connections and state officials celebrated on Thursday the completion of a project that captures methane and carbon dioxide gas from a next-door landfill and turns it into a market-quality natural gas that can be burned to create electricity.

Timberline, based in Colorado, developed the Waste Connections’ landfill next door, near SW 15 and Council Road in Oklahoma City.

Greg Tilden, Timberline’s president, said his Oklahoma City operation gathers, treats and then produces a million cubic feet of pipeline-quality natural gas a day.

If PowerSmith is offline, the gas goes into distribution pipelines, where it can be bought by other consumers to power their operations, he said.

The landfill east of Council Road has operated for decades. Tilden said the operation had been collecting the gas it produced and burning it off in a flare.

Michael W. Smith, vice president of finance for PowerSmith Cogeneration, said the power plant gets enough gas from Timberline to handle about 5 megawatts of power generation from its 120 megawatt plant.

Power plant owners are happy to take the product, he said, rather than just having it burned off.

Timberline officials declined to reveal how much they spent to build the processing plant in southwest Oklahoma City.

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