Wastewater treatment facilities are vulnerable to catastrophic events, natural disasters, and other emergencies. Because they provide a critical infrastructure for maintaining public health and the environment, they must be able to operate under any of these conditions.

The use of Alcor CHP can provide critical off-grid reliability to enable wastewater treatment plants to continue operations in the event of a utility failure. Furthermore, in the face of tightening local budgets, cost savings resulting from Alcor CHP operations can be redirected to other preparedness priorities. As of December 2006, wastewater treatment CHP systems were in place at 76 sites in 24 states, representing 220 MW of capacity.

A wastewater treatment facility with a total influent flow rate of 24 MGD can produce approximately 500 kilowatts (kW) of electricity to offset purchased electricity or to sell to the grid and 72 British thermal units (Btus) per day of thermal energy that can be used as heat for an anaerobic digester and/or for space heating loads..

Alcor’s Combined Heat and Power systems are an excellent solution for the energy needs of a wastewater treatment plant. The installation of an Alcor CHP system has the following advantages:

• Produces power at a cost below retail electricity
  
• Displaces purchased fuels for thermal needs.
• Qualifies as a renewable fuel for green power programs.
• Enhances power reliability for the plant
• Offers an opportunity to reduce greenhouse gas and other air emissions.