New Wayne County facility aims to turn waste into renewable energy

WAYNE COUNTY, Michigan. – A new facility is opening in Riverview that will convert waste into renewable energy.

The $70 million project, funded by DTE Vantage and NextEra, first got its start several years ago.

“As biogas volumes continue to grow, NextEra and DTE decided to make this investment, so we started planning for this opportunity five or six years ago,” said DTE Vantage Vice President Kevin Dobson.

Dobson said the opportunity is to convert biogas into renewable natural gas.

“When waste goes to landfill and is collected in landfills, it naturally decomposes, it decomposes, and when that waste decomposes, it creates biogas, which is quite harmful. It’s a greenhouse gas. It’s mostly methane and carbon dioxide — quite harmful,” Dobson said.

The landfill has pumps that transport the biogas to the machines, which then upgrade it to pipeline-quality natural gas. This is done by separating carbon dioxide, nitrogen and other elements until it is pure methane. This is not only good for the environment, but also good for DTE Vantage financially.

“Renewable natural gas — it’s very popular,” Dobson said. “There’s been a lot of demand for it, so we’re able to generate a lot of financial investment.”

Although DTE Vantage is independent from the electricity supplier, this technology allows them to join forces and generate more electricity.

“We also have the ability to generate renewable electricity. So DTE is in a situation where they need more electricity on their grid. They can call us and we can provide up to six thousand dollars—a lot of renewable electricity.”

DTE Vantage said once operational, the facility could remove more than 17,000 cars from the roads per year.