Catawba County buys $20M energy plant for EcoComplex – Charlotte Business Journal
A Canadian company will build a $20 million trash-to-energy plant at the Catawba County EcoComplex.
Nexterra Systems Corp.’s biomass-fueled system will convert wood waste otherwise destined for the county’s landfill into electricity that will then be sold on the power grid.
The EcoComplex already sells as much as $650,000 per year in electricity, using a landfill-gas system.
The Nexterra system is scheduled to start operating in the first quarter of 2012.
“Not only will the system generate additional revenue for the county, but it will reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, stimulate local economic development and extend the life of our landfill,” says Barry Edwards, Catawba County director of utilities and engineering.
The energy plant also will use wood waste from a sawmill and a wooden-pallet plant in the EcoComplex.
The industrial park is off U.S. Highway 321 at the Blackburn Landfill. Companies in the 1,000-acre development are interdependent for at least part of their fuel needs or for reuse of each other’s byproducts.
