The Capital Regional District will spend $900,000 to become the sole owner of a power plant that turns methane from decomposing garbage into electricity at the Hartland Landfill.
The district already owned 70 per cent of the Saanich facility and was leasing it to Maxim Power Corporation, which owned the other 30 per cent.
The district decided to buy out Maxim in order to get the most value out of the energy generated by the facility, which was built in 2003, said CRD spokesman Andy Orr.
“Probably in 2003, we didn’t think we had the expertise to do that,” he said. “Now, we probably feel more like we have the expertise and [are] more interested in doing this kind of project in a larger way.”
Orr said it was unclear what that might mean, but he confirmed that one possibility would be to use the facility to generate energy from sewage.
The district’s $783-million sewage treatment plan calls for sewage to be treated at McLoughlin Point in Esquimalt and the resulting sludge piped 18 kilometres to Hartland, where it could be turned into fertilizer or fuel.
The district said it would contract with Finning Power to operate and maintain the power plant, which currently produces enough electricity for 1,600 homes.
The power will be sold to B.C. Hydro under a long-term power purchase agreement, said a CRD statement.
