Monterey One Water is set to significantly increase its Regional Treatment Plant’s (RTP) anaerobic digestion capacity in Marina, California, furthering its commitment to renewable energy and waste reduction. The project will provide the utility with organic waste receiving and pre-processing equipment, enabling the co-digestion of food waste alongside wastewater biosolids in the existing digesters. This process generates renewable biogas, which produces electricity and heat at the Monterey One facility.
The plan involves reviving an out-of-service anaerobic digester and installing state-of-the-art Anaergia digestion tank mixing technology. The upgraded technology will enhance operational performance and energy efficiency, enabling food waste and biosolids co-digestion without affecting critical wastewater operations. The project will also substantially increase digester capacity, offering greater operational flexibility to Monterey One.
The upgrade will boost biogas production by over 150% from the plant’s four digesters. The resultant biogas will be converted into up to 1.6 MW of renewable electricity via on-site combined heat and power (CHP) engines. The increase in energy production will exceed the plant’s power requirements, significantly lowering operational costs, generating revenue, and enhancing resiliency and reliability. In addition, this boost in on-site energy generation contributes to developing a joint microgrid shared with Monterey One’s regional solid waste agency, ReGen.
In addition to improving anaerobic digestion technologies, the new waste-receiving equipment will assist the region’s solid waste industry by diversifying food waste from regional landfills. This will help achieve compliance with California’s SB1383 legislation, aimed at reducing methane emissions generated from landfilling food and other organic wastes.
The California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, CalRecycle, will grant $4,218,900, offsetting a significant portion of the project’s cost, thereby reducing the financial impact on utility ratepayers. The project is slated to commence in Q2 2023 and is expected to be completed by Q3 2024.
Andrew Benedek, Chairman and CEO of Anaergia, praised the upgrade, stating, “Monterey One Water is not just recycling water, but also organic waste, thereby transforming a substantial issue into a massive benefit for a net-zero future.” He added that “these proven technologies will eventually be implemented at hundreds of other wastewater treatment plants worldwide, and Monterey One Water is leading the way.”
Monterey One Water’s General Manager, Paul Sciuto, also expressed enthusiasm for the project, noting the unique opportunity provided by CalRecycle to co-digest wastewater solids with food waste. This will lead to enhanced green energy production, reduced operating costs, and lower carbon emissions, serving as a model solution for other wastewater utilities.
Photo by Julia Koblitz on Unsplash
