Monroe WWTP

The City of Monroe Wastewater Treatment Plant serves as a vital piece of municipal infrastructure, responsibly managing wastewater for its community and playing a critical role in public health and environmental protection. Like many modern treatment facilities, it’s inherently energy-intensive, requiring continuous power for pumps, aeration, and purification processes. A significant challenge for the plant was also the effective management of biogas, a methane-rich byproduct of its anaerobic digestion. Historically, flaring this biogas represented a lost energy opportunity and a source of greenhouse gas emissions. The City of Monroe was committed to reducing its carbon footprint, enhancing operational efficiency, and transforming waste into a valuable resource, seeking a sustainable solution that would reduce dependence on grid power and contribute to its broader environmental goals.

Solution: To address these challenges, the City of Monroe implemented an advanced 195 kW biogas Combined Heat and Power (CHP) system at its Wastewater Treatment Plant. This robust system features three (3) Capstone C65 microturbines, meticulously integrated to capture and convert the plant’s biogas into both electricity and thermal energy for onsite use. Commissioned in 2014, the modularity of the microturbines allows for flexible operation, adapting to varying biogas production rates while consistently generating baseload power.

Results: The biogas CHP system has delivered transformative benefits for the City of Monroe Wastewater Treatment Plant. By converting biogas into electricity and heat, the plant now generates a significant portion of its own energy needs, leading to substantial reductions in utility costs and improved budget predictability for the municipality. The microturbine technology is particularly well-suited for biogas applications due to its operational flexibility with varying gas quality and its high reliability, ensuring continuous power for critical treatment processes. Furthermore, utilizing the biogas for energy generation instead of flaring it dramatically reduces greenhouse gas emissions, reinforcing the city’s environmental stewardship. Vergent has serviced the site since 2014.