Summary
Located in Bexar County, TX, San Antonio Water Systems (SAWS) partnered with Ameresco under an EaaS Power Purchase Agreement to create an innovative biogas project that was the first sustainable project of its kind in the nation.
“SAWS is constantly improving its operations to become more sustainable… By reusing biogas instead of burning it off, we are helping protect the city’s air quality and developing a renewable energy source.”
– Robert R. Puente
President/CEO, San Antonio Water Supply
900,000
Cubic Feet Natural Gas Delivered Daily
1,500,000
Standard Cubic Feet Biogas Processed Daily
115,000,000
Gallons Recycled Water Daily
$200,000
Estimated Annual Royalties
Customer Benefits
The improvements made to SAWS complete a “recycling trifecta,” where they recycle or reuse almost all of the waste coming into Dos Rios. Over the 20 year term, the project will provide significant improvement to the environment around the SAWS Wastewater Treatment Plant through the major reduction of flared emissions at the site.
- Process over 1.5 million standard cubic feet of biogas per day
- Utilize biogas as a green energy source
- Annual reduction of 19,739 tons of CO2 equivalent of heating 4,689+ homes
- 80% of biosolids remaining generate compost used to improve soil quality
Services Provided
Ameresco restructured SAWS to utilize all of the elements from the processing of waste-water and support a positive environmental outcome. The new system takes biogas generated during the sewage treatment process, captures it and then sells it through a commercial gas pipeline.
- Provide wholesale water supplies to several smaller utility systems
- 115 million gallons of high quality recycled water used daily by community
- Estimated annual royalty of $200,000 received on sale of gas
