Fayetteville PWC and Bloom Energy to convert waste into power using fuel cells
Bloom Energy’s fuel cells combine ambient air with fuel, such as biogas, to create electricity without combustion.
The Fayetteville Public Works Commission (PWC) and Bloom Energy plan to install and operate 1.5 megawatts of solid oxide fuel cells.
Creating renewable energy from multiple biogas streams in the region, the new project will reduce emissions and advance the Fayetteville community’s efforts to meet North Carolina’s clean energy standards.
Generating power from multiple biogas streams, the fuel cell installation – to be located adjacent to PWC’s P.O. Hoffer Water Treatment Facility – will be one of the first of its kind to blend multiple waste gas sources to produce clean, carbon-neutral electricity. The project will use biogas captured from PWC’s Cross Creak Water Reclamation facility, an adjacent landfill, and methane gases captured from local and neighbouring swine farms.
By utilizing multiple biogas streams, the waste-to-electricity project will provide reliable, always-on, and carbon-neutral electricity to meet the power demands equivalent to more than 1,000 homes. Bloom Energy’s fuel cells will complement PWC’s existing renewable energy sources, helping meet PWC’s North Carolina Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standard requirements.
The project will also complement the cleanup of industrial pollution that has threatened the Fayetteville community for more than two decades. Located adjacent to PWC’s P.O. Hoffer Water Treatment Facility, the fuel cell installation will also border the former Texfi industrial site, which is considered one of North Carolina’s most polluted sites due to residual industrial pollution and contaminated groundwater that poses a threat to the community’s drinking water and the Cape Fear River Basin.
Elaina Ball, CEO and GM, PWC, added, “This project is an anchor for the broader plan to remediate and establish a Cleanfields Renewable Energy Demonstration Park in the community.”
Chuck Moesta, VP, gas management, Bloom Energy, said, “Our waste-to-energy solutions are garnering increasing interest from communities and municipalities. We look forward to bringing this innovative project alive with Fayetteville’s municipal utility, setting an important example for other communities around the US wishing to transition to clean, carbon-neutral energy.”
