On Tuesday, during the Public Services Commission''s monthly meeting, a proposal from Advanced Sustainable Technologies Limited to construct a waste-to-energy plant on St. John was once again before commissioners.
AST Cleantech, as the company calls itself, has been proposing the build as a pilot project for some time now. In re-introducing the matter to the PSC, AST attorney Boyd Sprehn noted that the plan is to "produce a little under one megawatt of electricity as a baseload unit while taking care of virtually all of the waste generated on St. John." Before construction of the plant can move forward, however, agreements must be secured from both the V.I. Waste Management Authority and the V.I. Water and Power Authority.
"Alsowe try to mitigate the noiseit will be almost undetectable," he continued. He noted, in response to concerns expressed by Commissioner Laura Nichols-Samms that AST units are currently operating in Seattle, Washington, as well as in the Czech Republic and Germany, where environmental requirements are more stringent than those in the United States.
Mr. Hughes noted that the success of the project would require AST to interface with both VIWMA and WAPA. However, "neither of them is likely to be particularly responsive right now – they''ve got a lot of issues" to deal with, Mr. Hughes acknowledged. However, Mr. Levin informed the PSC that his company had already received a draft power purchase agreement from WAPA, which is expected to be signed within the next few weeks. Although the agreement with the WMA should be easier, because no tipping fees would be required, that process had not yet been completed. "If you can help us moving that forward, obviously we''d love any help," Mr. Levin appealed to commissioners.
"If you''re not looking for money from Waste Management, I''m pretty sure they''d be happy to give you trash," Mr. Hughes quipped. He encouraged AST to continue to work closely with the PSC''s general counsel and executive director on any draft agreements with the regulated utilities, "so that we can monitor and offer our comments throughout the process."
The goal, said Mr. Hughes, is to be prepared so that "when it gets ready to do something, we''re already full in agreement with that." Following quick calculations on the production capacity of the unit, Mr. Levin said that the PSC can expect to see a power purchase agreement of about 10 gigawatts per year. "That''s the maximum we expect," he noted.
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A revolutionary trash-to-energy plant is expected to start eliminating all waste on St. John by the end of 2025, according to an update from Advanced Sustainable Technologies at a meeting of the Public Services Commission.
The system uses plasma gasification to superheat waste, and "there is zero byproduct, there are no emissions from our plant, we are a 100% circular economy," Levin explained.
The plant is expected to generate around 1% of the V.I. Water and Power Authority''s total consumption annually. The company is negotiating a power purchase agreement with WAPA to sell energy produced by the plant, and "that''s where we get our revenue from," Levin said.
The company hopes to begin construction of the plant on the mainland, "in the next two months, that means in roughly 9 to 10 months, we''ll have the unit ready in Florida. We assume one or two months of testing, so overall, the system should be at the St. John transfer station in roughly 12 to 13 months, so startup should happen by the end of 2025, before the end of the year."
Levin said the company''s technology has already been proven on a large scale in India and Europe, but AST wants to create a pilot program on St. John that will show what the system can do for a small island.
Since the closure of the Susannaberg landfill, all waste from St. John is compacted and shipped on a barge to St. Thomas to be dumped in the Bovoni landfill. Both it and St. Croix''s Anguilla landfill are under consent decrees intended to close the unlined dumps and transition to new landfills.
Levin said Tuesday the company is finalizing engineering plans for the final design of a system at the Susannaberg Transfer Station, which could forever eliminate the need to ship bales of trash between islands and create new landfills.
They''ve partnered with a Florida-based company to fabricate and test the unit on the mainland before it''s shipped to St. John, at a cost of roughly $10 million, and Levin said the company has full financial backing from a bank.
Construction and installation will employ 10 to 20 people, and six to 10 staff will be needed for initial operation, Levin said.
"The main product is electricity. All the inorganics and the residues from the process are converted into an inorganic crystal," which is used for energy storage, Levin explained.
PSC Commissioner David Hughes asked about Environmental Protection Agency regulations, and Levin said the gas produced by organic waste "is being cleaned and then burned in a gas turbine," which "is significantly cleaner than natural gas and other fuels."
The plant is also vacuum sealed so "no smell should go out," and they''re mitigating any concerns about noise and possible environmental disruption, Levin said. "Even the emissions we talked about won''t be seen, it will be almost undetectable."
Hughes said that obviously "you guys aren''t doing this out of the goodness of your heart," and asked if there will be a need for a tipping fee agreement with the V.I. Waste Management Authority.
"We actually don''t require a tipping fee, we just require the actual commitment on the supply of waste because that''s our raw material," Levin said, "if you can help us moving that forward."
"That should be very simple. If you''re not looking for money from Waste Management, I''m pretty sure they''d be very happy to give you trash," Hughes said.
Levin said they''re assuming the plant will process roughly 25 tons of waste per day, or 8,250 tons per year, producing "up to 10 gigawatts per year, that''s the maximum we expect."
He said the plant is also expected to operate for 330 days per year, with planned downtime for routine maintenance, and "they are demonstratbly very clean plants over time."
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