SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The city is again exploring generating power at the landfill.

The city is again examining the idea of a waste-to-energy plant that would reduce what goes into the landfill while also generating power. - NNSL file photo

The plan, which would include building a facility that would burn some materials, is a multi-million dollar project that may be years from becoming reality.

The concept of a waste-to-energy facility was examined by the city 12 years ago as a way to reduce what ends up in the landfill. The facility could generate electricity to power landfill buildings with excess sent to the grid.

Acting senior administrative officer Dennis Kefalas said the idea was previously rejected because the city didn't generate enough waste to make it viable. With technology changes, the idea has resurfaced.

"We have to look at ways of becoming more efficient at how we do things, especially when it comes to diverting waste," Kefalas said in a recent interview, noting landfills are expensive to build and expand.

For example, in 2016, the city awarded a $3.5-million contract to NWT Construction Ltd. for a new landfill cell expected to take in garbage for five years before another would need to be built.

The plan to generate power would involve building a facility at the landfill that would burn certain materials like wood, paper, cardboard and plastics. It would include pollution-reduction technology.

Kefalas, who last year returned to the position of director of public works and engineering, said city residents shouldn't expect to see this appear too soon in a city budget.

"I would say in the next five years maybe a 50-per-cent chance," he said. "In the next 10 years, a much greater chance."

Based on figures from the Waste-to-Energy Research and Technology Council, the average cost to develop and build a facility like this is about US$650 per annual tonne.

The city's landfill received about 30,000 tonnes of material in 2015. An estimated 20,000 tonnes could be used in waste-to-energy facility. However, some of that material is better to burn than others.

That produces a rough estimate of US$13 million.

Mike Auge, the city's manager of sustainability and solid waste, noted in an e-mail that figure would likely be closer to $20 to $25 million given the city's Northern location and that figures were in American dollars.

Auge stated a smaller system would cost less but also result in a lower power output.

A waste-to-energy facility could roughly generate 500 to 600 kilowatt hours of electricity per tonne, the council's website states.

Using the 20,000 tonne figure, that could mean the facility could generate roughly 10 million kilowatt hours of electricity, depending on what's burned.

The landfill used 294,063 kilowatt hours in 2015 at a cost of $74,722.22, according to the city.

That would leave a significant amount of power that could be sent out to the power grid.

Kefalas said the idea would be to have the value of that power applied as a credit to the city's overall power bill.

Kefalas said if legislation is changed to allow the city to receive a dollar-for-dollar value on power sent to the grid, then the project becomes more viable for the city.

He said the idea is something that would likely be investigated as part of the city's Community Energy Plan, a document still in development that sets out various ways the city can reduce its energy use and emissions.

A feasibility study and business case would need to be developed before it goes to council for inclusion in a future budget.

"At the moment, there are a lot of questions and problems that present themselves when we look at (waste-to-energy) for Yellowknife, however, it is something that we are keeping tabs on and as the technology continues to advance we hope that something appropriate to our size and restrictions will allow us to take advantage of this," Auge wrote in an e-mail last month.

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