JUNE 2007: AROUND THE STATE, DISPATCHES
ADAIR
VILLAGE
The Coffin Butte Resource Project, a power plant that turns
methane gas into electricity, will be able to stretch out a bit
when its $5 million expansion opens in October. The project,
owned by Power Resources Cooperative, currently produces about
2.46 megawatts of power. After the 4,800- square-foot expansion
opens, production should double. The plant opened in 1995 after
Valley Landfills approached Power Resources about using methane
gas from the Coffin Butte landfill. Until that point, the
methane, a natural byproduct of landfills, was burned in
flares, effectively wasting an energy source, explains Steve
King, generator resources manager for Portland-based PNGC
Power, the company contracted by Power Resources to operate and
maintain the plant. “There’s more gas collected
than can be used,” he says. Three new Caterpillar gas
engines/generators should help lighten that load very soon.
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