Landfill Power Plant Goes Online

The world’s largest microturbine power plant to run exclusively on methane gas produced by landfills was up and running Thursday at the Lopez Canyon Landfill in Lake View Terrace.

City officials flipped the switch to start the plant that turns the gas--which otherwise would escape into the atmosphere--into enough electricity for 1,500 homes per day. The methane is produced by the decomposition of buried garbage at the now-closed dump.

The $4-million project, initiated by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and the South Coast Air Quality Management District, is also expected to reduce air pollution, DWP General Manager David Wiggs said.

“It’s clean, affordable and eliminates the burn-off of methane [gas] into the atmosphere,” Wiggs said.

Wiggs also said there are plans to install similar plants in other county landfills.

Each of the plant’s 50 microturbines, developed by the Chatsworth-based Capstone Turbine Corp., can produce 30 kilowatts of electricity.

“We’re creating 1.5 megawatts of green energy to go back into the community,” said Bob Fleet, Capstone’s vice president of sales.

At the dedication ceremony, actor and environmentalist Ed Begley Jr. applauded the project and said it proves the economy and the environment can coexist.

City Council President Alex Padilla called the project a win-win situation.

“[It will] convert what’s historically been a burden into something positive,” Padilla said.

Citing research that shows air pollution levels in Los Angeles are high enough to limit a child’s lung capacity by 10% to 15%, Tim Carmichael, executive director of the Coalition for Clean Air, said this project is small but vital.

“On its own, it’s not going to change the world. But is it a model to be copied again and again? Yes,” Carmichael said.