Summary
Landfill gas drives this BMW Manufacturing plant – Methane gas drawn from Waste Management Inc.’s Palmetto Landfill is providing the energy needs at BMW’s manufacturing facility in Spartanburg, SC, in an EaaS partnership with Ameresco.
“BMW’s landfill gas program has been a tremendous initiative for the plant. Using methane gas to power our plant is one example of our focus on environmentally friendly production processes.”
– Josef Kerscher
President, BMW Manufacturing
50%
Plant Total Energy Needs Met with Turbines
92,000
Tons Annual CO2 Emissions Reduction
9.5
Miles of Landfill Gas Pipeline
11
MW Capacity
Customer Benefits
To help offset BMW’s energy demand, BMW maintains its own power station on site. The station is powered by four turbines fueled by reclaimed methane gas piped in from the nearby Palmetto Landfill.
- Mitigate risks of volatility in the energy markets
- Turbines generate electricity to meet nearly 30% of the plant’s power needs
- Environmentally responsible power resource
Services Provided
BMW Manufacturing worked with Ameresco to bring landfill gas to its plant. The project entailed the development, engineering, construction and operation of a landfill gas pipeline and retrofit of the existing energy center. BMW had four 1.25 MW gas turbines largely sitting idle on their property. Ameresco was able to recycle the turbines by putting them into service using landfill gas.
- 9.5-mile landfill gas pipeline with cleaning and compression stations
- Project cogenerates electricity and hot water
- BMW purchases the equivalent of 4,000 cfm of landfill gas for use in their turbines
