It is estimated that the project, still in its planning stages, will cost the municipality R22-million and may be implemented at the Rietfontein landfill site in Springs, the Weltevreden landfill site in Brakpan and the Rooikraal landfill site in Boksburg.
This is according to the metro spokesperson, Themba Gadebe.
“In heeding the call by South Africa’s power utility to reduce the demand for energy on the national grid, Ekurhuleni is looking into expanding this clean energy initiative, that turns waste into usable products, such as methane gas, to produce electricity.
“Currently, one megawatt of power is generated from the Simmer and Jack landfill site, which is transmitted to the Wychwood Substation, in Germiston, consequently relieving the pressure on the national grid,” said Gadebe.
“Once refuse has been collected from residential areas and businesses around the municipality, it is discarded into a berm.
”The waste is then compressed, in order for it to decompose and create methane gas, which is collected through pipes that feed it directly to the flare, where it is burnt to generate electricity.
“This process is not only a solution to the challenge of space for waste disposal, but capturing methane before it gets into the atmosphere helps reduce the effects of climate change and minimise the effects of airborne sicknesses caused by air pollution from landfills.”
Gadebe added that the metro plans to duplicate the biomass power plant, as seen in Germiston, to generate two megawatts of power in other landfills sites in Ekurhuleni.
The power plant is used by the metro to generate electrical energy through rotting waste.
“It may look like a mere dumping site, but the Simmer and Jack landfill site in Germiston may be an answer to the current electricity shortage in the country,” Gadebe said.
