Sacramento Area Sewer District enters $140M contract to build biogas energy plant near Elk Grove
A renewable energy operator will soon begin development and construction on a nearly $140 million facility near Elk Grove that is expected to be complete in 2026.
Ameresco, Inc., which describes itself as a cleantech integrator specializing in energy efficiency and renewable energy, announced this week in a news release that it would contract with the Sacramento Area Sewer District to build a renewable energy facility that uses biogas, or methane, to generate electricity and heat.
The project would be located at the EchoWater Resource Recovery Facility just outside of Elk Grove, the news release said.
Sacramento Area Sewer District (SacSewer) general manager Christoph Dobson said in a news release that the project is an example of their commitment to improving the environment.
“SacSewer is committed to being a leader in environmental stewardship. Through our sustainable efforts in resource recovery, we maximize the reuse of treatment process by-products such as biogas,” Dobson said in a prepared statement. “This project is yet another example of how we’re working every day to fulfill our mission of protecting public health and the environment by collecting, treating, and recovering resources from sewage.”
The contract for the new renewable energy plant was first reported by the Sacramento Business Journal.
According to its website, SacSewer is the region’s largest sewage collection, treatment and resource recovery utility, providing service to more than 1.6 million people. It’s the second-largest sewage collection utility in California, including owning and operating the second-largest water resource recovery facility of its kind in the nation — the EchoWater Resource Recovery Facility, located near Elk Grove.
In an Ameresco news release, the energy company said heat and electricity will be produced through an integrated 13.4-megawatt cogeneration plant “that will utilize fuel cell and engine technology.”
The company said it anticipates that the system will allow the project to be a clean resource with exceptional efficiency, reduced pollutant emissions and in the future, the expandability to produce hydrogen, according to the news release.
Executive Vice President of Ameresco Michael Bakas expressed his enthusiasm in a news release about partnering with SacSewer.
“Capturing and repurposing biogenic methane that is already in our environment and produced by society to displace fossil fuel is a powerful example of the circular economy in action, where waste is not discarded, but turned into a valuable asset,” Bakas said. “This voluntary act by SacSewer, backed by a material investment into this advanced renewable energy center, speaks volumes to their commitment to our environment and their surrounding community.”
