Calgary-based Alter NRG Corp., which has plasma gasification technology that can turn biomass and coal into syngas, is also going after the energy-from-waste market. The company announced today that it has signed an MOU with Dufferin County in Ontario, which includes Orangeville, to build a 2-megawatt power facility that will convert 75 tonnes of municipal solid waste each day into electricity. Construction on the $32 million facility is expected to start in late 2010 and full operation will commence in late 2012, if all goes as planned. Alter NRG said Ontario is an ideal market because incentives exist for the power that comes from clean-energy facilities and regulations have been streamlined to speed up development and construction of projects.
It will be interesting to see how Alter NRG’s technology and approach compares with that of Plasco Energy, which is operating a pilot waste-to-energy facility in Ottawa and has had more than its share of problems over the past couple of years. Alter NRG, I should point out, is the company that purchased geoexchange development company Clean Energy Developments two weeks ago.
