Technical and economic assessment of power generation from landfill gas in South Africa

The paper reports on the technical, economic and environmental assessment of stand-alone and grid connected electricity generation from landfill gas in South Africa. Theoretical models are developed in Matlab to calculate the methane production potential of three Western Cape landfill sites in order to assess their suitability for landfill gas to energy (LFGTE) projects. Then Homer package is used to simulate and assess the electricity generation potential of stand-alone and grid-connected power system configurations using landfill gas generated in all the three sites. It is assumed that stand-alone configuration is aimed at supplying power to remote communities without access to grid electricity while the grid-connected configuration is aimed to generate power during the peak load period only. The results of simulation are used to make final conclusions and recommendation about the viability of LFGTE systems in South Africa.