Renewable fuel source will power city's Hyperion wastewater treatment facility, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and support energy resiliency
LOS ANGELES, CA, Nov. 25, 2015 -- Construction has begun on a 25-megawatt (net) biogas-fueled cogeneration plant, which will supply 100 percent of the steam and electricity produced to power LA Sanitation's Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant.
The cogeneration plant is expected to generate more than 173 million kilowatt-hours of electricity per year and supply up to 70,000 pounds per hour of steam, using the methane captured through Hyperion's sewage treatment process as its fuel source.
LA Sanitation selected Constellation, a subsidiary of Exelon Generation, as the project developer after a competitive bidding process. Constellation will develop, construct and operate the cogeneration facility for 20 years, with an option to extend the agreement for two additional five-year terms.
By using biogas fuel to generate electricity instead of brown power sources, the Hyperion cogeneration plant is expected to avoid the release of approximately 100,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide each year, or the equivalent emissions from over 21,000 passenger vehicles annually, according to an estimate from LA Sanitation. In the event of an electric grid outage, the cogeneration plant has the ability to maintain operations at the wastewater treatment site.
Commercial operation of the Hyperion cogeneration plant is scheduled for the end of 2016.
About Constellation
Constellation is a leading competitive retail supplier of power, natural gas and energy products and services for homes and businesses across the continental United States. Constellation's family of retail businesses serves more than 2 million residential, public sector and business customers, including more than two-thirds of the Fortune 100. Baltimore-based Constellation is a subsidiary of Exelon Corporation (NYSE: EXC), the nation's leading competitive energy provider, with 2014 revenues of approximately $27.4 billion, and more than 32,000 megawatts of owned capacity comprising one of the nation's cleanest and lowest-cost power generation fleets. Learn more at www.constellation.com or on Twitter at @ConstellationEG.
About LA Sanitation
As the lead agency for the City's environmental programs and initiatives, LA Sanitation protects public health and the environment through the administration and management of three program areas: Clean Water (Wastewater), Solid Resources (Solid Waste Management) and Watershed Protection (Stormwater). These infrastructure programs collect, treat, recycle, and dispose the solid and liquid waste generated by the nation's second largest city of more than four million residents. Through these essential public service programs, LA Sanitation delivers a triple bottom line of economic, environmental, and social benefits that sustain the quality of life in Los Angeles. For more information, please visit www.lacitysan.org.
