Press Release

ELECTRICITY TO BE GENERATED FROM RUBBISH

28 September 2007

Gas created from decomposing rubbish at Nether Dallachy in Morayshire is to be used to generate electricity for up to 1,600 homes in the community.

The Crown Estate, as owners of the landfill site on our Fochabers estate, has, together with Moray Council, appointed energy firm Renewable Power Systems (RPS) to exploit the valuable biogas resource. The project has a capacity of 800 kW and is expected to provide low-carbon electricity for the next 20 years. The project is expected to save more than 3,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide each year.

Speaking on behalf of The Crown Estate in Scotland, Alan Laidlaw said how pleased they were to be working with Moray Council on this initiative. He said:“This project demonstrates our commitment to encouraging imaginative renewable energy initiatives to thrive on our Scottish rural estates. We wish to create an environment of strong, well-structured businesses that are able to compete effectively in the changing marketplace and respond to new demands for more environmentally friendly practices.”

Convener of Moray Council and local member for Spey Bay and Fochabers, Cllr George McIntyre, said the project demonstrates Moray Council’s commitment to the environment. “As an authority we have a duty to explore every avenue that makes the most of our natural assets,” he said.

“What we have achieved here has turned a waste management problem into a profitable project, and one that helps us protect the environment. I am delighted to see this development progress, and look forward to when it commences electricity generation.”

The successful negotiations on this project have been managed on The Crown Estate’s behalf by Wardell Armstrong and Anderson Strathern.

How It Works

When waste reaches landfill sites it is placed in sealed impermeable cells where it decomposes over time. After as little as one year the decomposed waste matter emits a natural methane-rich biogas, which has to be collected and managed by the landfill site operator. This is because methane is both an explosive gas in certain concentrations and if released to the atmosphere it is a 20 times more damaging ‘greenhouse’ gas than carbon dioxide. However, the gas can be used as a sustainable energy source, instead of being burned off.

• Methane gas, which also occurs naturally as “marsh gas” or “wil ‘o the wisp”, will be collected and used to power an internal combustion engine connected to a generator.
• RPS will modify the existing gas control systems, to extract the gas safely from the site to the generator, harnessing it to generate electricity which will then be fed into the national grid.
• Recovery of the gas and using it as a fuel can continue safely for many years after land filling has finished and the site is closed.