Coffin Butte Resource Project Generates Clean, Renewable Energy
PNGC Power provides operational and management expertise at the Coffin Butte Resource
Project, located north of Corvallis, Oregon. Power Resources Cooperative owns this
project for the benefit of 12 electric cooperatives in the region.
The project generates clean, renewable power from landfill gas, a natural by-product
of the organic matter in the neighboring regional landfill, owned by Valley Landfills,
Inc. The Coffin Butte Resource Project, which began operation in 1995, allows several
electric cooperatives to offer customers “green power” as a way to support renewable
resources.
Coffin Butte’s landfill gas-to-energy project is a superior, cost-effective renewable
resource, producing energy 95 percent of the time. In contrast, wind only produces
energy 30 to 35 percent of the time. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has
recognized Coffin Butte as one of the most efficient projects in the country.
A 3.2 MW, $5.5 million capacity expansion, which increased the amount of renewable
energy generated by the project, was completed and began operations in January 2008.
The expansion included enlarging the Coffin Butte power station from 4,200 square-feet
to 9,000 square-feet and installing two 20-cylinder Caterpillar 3520 engines to
generate additional power.
The new engines more than doubled the capacity of Coffin Butte to 5.66 megawatts,
which is enough electricity to power about 4,000 average-size homes. The cost for
generating additional power is very economical, further reducing an already very
competitive rate.
Strong customer support of renewable power and the growing availability of landfill
gas are the major reasons for Coffin Butte’s expansion. The success of the landfill
gas-to-energy plant has encouraged other utilities in the Northwest to consider
developing similar alternative renewable resources for their customers.
Technology Leads the Way
Sensor Manager Program
PNGC developed and implemented a computer software program for the Coffin Butte
Resource Project that allows plant operators to diagnose and troubleshoot engine
problems before they cause a shutdown. The Sensor Manager software allows diagnosis
of problems that have occurred or, are about to occur.
Each of Coffin Butte's five Caterpillar engines has sensors attached to them that
read as many as 32 values including oil temperature, water temperature and vacuum
pressure. With the software, data is continuously captured from the sensors. The
data can be viewed real time on a computer monitor in the office or, remotely, on
a Web page. All readings are stored in a database and can be used for analysis.
System enhancements include:
- A computerized graphing tool that demonstrates long-term trends, which will allow
pre-emptive maintenance of equipment in an increasingly controlled environment.
- A more sophisticated paging system that alerts plant operators to problems with
advance warning and in more detail.
These tools give Coffin Butte operators the data they need to more effectively manage
their system.
