Cedar Rapids firm gets landfill-to-energy contract

Green Companies Inc. of Cedar Rapids has been awarded a contract by AmerenUE of St. Louis to design a major landfill gas-to-electricity plant.

The firm at 8710 Earhart Lane SW will design the Methane-to-Megawatts project at the Fred Weber Co. Solid Waste Landfill in Maryland Heights, Mo. The contract includes plans to install combustion turbines to generate about 15 megawatts of electricity by burning methane gas.

The project, expected to cost $35 million to $45 million, will provide enough electricity to power 10,000 homes. It will be the largest landfill gas-to-electric plant in Missouri and one of the largest landfill generation plants in the country in generating capacity.

Green Companies will conduct engineering studies to determine the best location to install the turbines. The Cedar Rapids company will use that information to design the electrical generating plant.

Construction of the turbines is expected to begin next year. They are expected to begin generating power in 2011.

Mike Daniel, chief executive officer of Green Companies, said the project is a significant opportunity for Green Companies and its subsidiary, Howard R. Green Co.

“We are confident the unique strengths of our planning, design and construction experts will provide AmerenUE with the resources they need to successfully develop the Methane to Megawatts project,” he said.

The facility will be the first new base-load power plant built by AmerenUE in years. Unlike so-called peaking plants, which go into operation only when electricity demand gets higher, base-load plants operate all day every day.

Last year, Missouri voters approved an initiative that requires investor-owned utilities to provide 15 percent of their electric generation from renewable sources by 2021. AmerenUE in June announced a deal to buy 102 megawatts of power from phase II of Horizon Wind Energy's Pioneer Prairie Wind Farm in Iowa, enough to power about 26,000 homes.

AmerenUE serves about 1.2 million electric customers.