The City of Johannesburg believes it has a solution that can help keep the lights on as the country grapples with electricity challenges.
The city is looking at alternative energy sources.
Its waste management company Pikitup has five landfills that will generate 19MW of electricity, enough to power 16 500 homes.
The electricity will be generated from methane gas and carbon dioxide extracted from Robinson Deep in Turffontein, Marie Louise in Roodepoort, Goudkoppies in Devland, Linbro Park near Alexandra and Ennerdale in Lawley.
In 2005 the City identified these landfills as potential sites to implement a landfill gas-to-energy Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project.
The Robinson Deep Landfill, which opened in 1930, stood 80 metres high and had a lifespan of only seven years. But Councillor Matshidiso Mfikoe, Member of the Mayoral Committee for Environment, Infrastructure and Service, says this could be extended to 20 years by employing new waste management techniques, some of which were already being used.
Gas emissions and water contamination were monitored every three months to ensure there were no environmental mishaps.
Through its implementation, the city would help South Africa meet its Kyoto Protocol commitments while generating revenue through the sale of Certified Emission Reductions and sale of electricity generated from the project.
This project was initiated in 2007 to mitigate the harmful greenhouse gases emitted from the landfills. The renewable energy generated from the project would be fed into the municipal grid, thus offsetting largely coal derived electricity.
Methane gas is already being converted into electricity at Robinson Deep, where 68 gas wells were installed in 2011 and at the Marie Louise, where 28 wells were installed in 2012.
