Services Performed
Asset Development Consulting
The Prairie View Landfill in Will County, Illinois, accepted its first load of municipal solid waste (MSW) in 2004. Six years later, in the fall of 2010, the County broke ground on the a gas-to-energy plant. By 2012, the majority of methane gas generated by the landfill was producing electricity to provide all the energy needs of 2,000-3,800 homes. In 2019, the County wanted to explore the possibility of upgrading the landfill gas to pipeline-quality natural gas and injecting it into the local natural gas pipeline.
Successfully taking an RNG project from concept to commissioning requires deep knowledge of clean fuels regulations, fuel markets, and carbon markets. The County hired EcoEngineers to assess the overall feasibility of expanding the existing facility or upgrading the gas to pipeline-quality RNG. Based on EcoEngineers’ recommendations, the County decided to move forward with the design and implementation of an RNG upgrading facility at the landfill. The landfill gas project has a payback of less than three years and is currently in the design phase, with construction scheduled in fall 2020 and full operations in late 2021 or early 2022.
Key performance
Overall project feasibility including capital expenditures, operating expenditures, and potential revenues
Risk mitigation analysis
Analysis of potential upgrading technologies, vendors
Assistance with design and construction partnership selection
Pipeline interconnection consulting
RNG offtake, market analysis, and placement
Overall project coordination with County staff, leadership, and the board
Key results
Today, the site takes in an average of 3,000 tons of MSW a day and generates approximately 4,000 scfm of landfill gas, most of which is flared.
The landfill gas project has a payback of less than three years and is currently in the design phase, with construction scheduled in fall 2020 and full operations in late 2021 or early 2022.
