A renewable energy generation company is set to develop landfill gas-to-power facilities at three different sites in the UK.

ENER-G will design, build, finance and operate three renewable energy facilities at Seneca Global Energy’s landfill sites at Longhill in Hartlepool, Gilberdyke in Hull and Blaydon near Newcastle. Gas will be drawn from waste through a series of wells, which will be captured and converted into renewable electricity using ENER-G’s gas generation technology (pictured).

The sites are expected to generate up to 3.8MW of electricity in total – equivalent to powering up to 3,800 households in the UK – and cut a total of 117,264 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.

Landfill gas is believed to be one of the largest sources of methane emissions. If it is released into the atmosphere, it is a potent greenhouse gas, with its global-warming potential claimed to be 21 times greater than that of CO2.

Neil Elliott of Seneca Global Energy said: “This is a safe and proven world class method for converting landfill gas into green energy and we are proud to partner with ENER-G, which is a global leader in landfill gas management. This is the best available technology for controlling methane gas emissions and turning greenhouse gas into renewable energy that can supply affordable clean energy while meeting the UK’s climate change targets.”

According to ENER-G, the facilities could be operational by March this year. The firm claims it has designed, built and operated more than 100 landfill gas facilities, providing in excess of 160MW of generation capacity in the last decade.