EKURHULENI After the extensive feasibility study in 2005 it was decided to implement CDMs at four of the five operational landfills sites. Landfill sites included in the project design are Rooikraal, Rietfontein, Weltevreden and Simmer & Jack. Emission reductions are achieved by the combustion of recovered methane contained in landfill gas (that would otherwise be emitted to the atmosphere), and in the future by the generation of electricity from the gas, which will marginally assist with the displacement of coal-fired power generation on the South African grid. It is estimated that the project will generate about 800 000 CERs between the start of operations in 2008 and the end in 2017, so reducing approximately the same amount of CO2 (measured in tonnes). Upon a project registration at the CDM EB, CERs can be verified and income can be generated. EMM signed an Emission Reduction Purchase Agreement with a Spanish energy utility in 2007. The CDM landfill gas recovery project is one of the municipality’s revenueenhancement initiatives. Landfill gas recovery systems EMM currently recovers landfill gas using both vertical gas extraction wells and horizontal gas collection systems. Wellheads connect individual gas wells to the gas collection pipework laid to grade in order to facilitate condensate management. Wellhead controls include gas monitoring points for quality, pressure and gas flow. Landfill gas is extracted from the landfill under a vacuum. Flow control valves control vacuum pressure at each well and pneumatic pumps installed in the vertical wells and the knockout pots extract leachate and condensate from the system. The collected landfill gas is currently flared for environmental benefit and to generate CERs. This is phase 1 of the project.
YEAR MAIN ACTIVITIES 2004 2005 2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
Feasibility study: Indicated potential for development of a CDM project. Council appointed a CDM project advisory team to assist with development and implementation of the Ekurhuleni landfill gas extraction CDM project. The bid for the sale of CERs from the CDM project was advertised (locally and internationally). December 2006: Negotiations with the preferred buyer commenced and the first project design document (PDD) was compiled for validation of the CDM project. December 2006: Council appointed SGS United Kingdom as the designated operational entity (DOE) (accredited auditors) to commence with the project validation process. Project validation by SGS commenced in January 2007. EMM signed the Emission Reduction Purchase Agreement (ERPA) for the sale of CERs to Spanish company Endesa Generacion in May 2007. South Africa’s Designated National Authority (DNA), under the Department of Minerals and Energy (DME) banner, approved the CDM project upon submitting the draft PDD and issued a Letter of Approval (LoA) in June 2008. SGS changed project auditors. The Executive Board (EB) of the CDM changed monitoring methodologies for landfill gas flaring in December 2008. The first PDD was revised and resubmitted for validation. The second PDD was completely redone to include the activity for methane gas conversion into energy, generating ‘green energy’. The second PDD was validated in July 2009. The validation report for PDD #2 was submitted to the SA DNA to re-issue the LoA. The SA DNA issued its LoA in July 2009. The Spanish DNA Project issued its LoA in October 2009. Late in September 2009, the EB suspended SGS (the DOE appointed by Council to validate the CDM project.) Since the suspension, the project lead consultant, Mike Goldblatt (PDG), assisted by Cathy Lee (Lee International), the Council’s carbon credit transaction advisor, has been communicating with SGS. SGS addressed all non-conformances and was reinstated as an accredited DOE in December 2009. The CDM project is using Monitoring Methodology ACM 0001, version 9, which was applicable for projects requesting registration before 26 October 2009. The DOE’s suspension affected the request for registration prior to 26 October 2009 and the new monitoring version (ACM 0001, version 11) is now applicable. The version changes of the monitoring methodology led to changes to the validated PDD. The third version of the PDD was forwarded to SGS for revalidation on 23 November 2009. Validation of PDD #3: 1 April 2010. Registration application: Submission confirmation received on 7 May 2010. Registration fee transferred from Endesa to the EB of the CDM. The amount paid by Endesa was US$54 969 80. The EB confirmed receipt of the registration fee on 20 May 2010. The UNFCCC secretariat notified the DOE that the completeness check for the request for registration of ‘Ekurhuleni Landfill Gas Recovery Project – South Africa’ (3677) was completed. The information and reporting check started on 5 September 2010. EMM received a request for review on 4 October 2010 and the submission due date was 1 November 2010. UNFCCC informed on 25 November 2010 that the review of the request for registration was scheduled for 2011. Review of the request for registration was scheduled to start on 10 January 2011. The project was registered on 14 February 2011, retrospective 26 October 2010.
Flare station at Rooikraal Phase 2 will involve converting the extracted landfill gas into energy. Phase 2 will be championed by the municipality’s Electricity and Energy Department. EMM intends to move into phase 2 after the gas quantity and quality are well defined. Phase 1: Project implementation Weltevreden Eighteen vertical wells were installed in the closed cell 1. The three existing pilot
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