A subsidiary of PPL Corporation (NYSE: PPL) today marked the completion and commercial operation of a renewable energy park comprising three green energy projects in Camden County, N.J.

The three power plants were built by PPL Energy Services, which owns, operates and maintains them. Two projects — a 2800-kilowatt landfill gas-to-energy power plant at the Pennsauken Sanitary Landfill and a 500-kilowatt photovoltaic (solar) power plant at Aluminum Shapes in Pennsauken, N.J. — produce power for Aluminum Shapes. The company uses the output to run a variety of applications, from presses that extrude aluminum to machines that fabricate and coat metal surfaces.

The third project is a 500-kilowatt solar power plant at the landfill that provides power to operate the landfill gas-to-energy operation.

The New Jersey Clean Energy Program, under the direction of the Board of Public Utilities, provided partial funding for these projects as part of its incentive program to encourage the use of clean, efficient energy technology.

“We’re very pleased to have the opportunity to work with the Pennsauken Landfill, Aluminum Shapes and the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities on these innovative projects,” said PPL Energy Services President Paul Champagne. “This partnership is an example of PPL’s belief in reaching out beyond its traditional business to cultivate the next generation of power supply.”
 
Methane is a component of landfill gas and is produced when organic landfill waste decays. It’s odorless, abundant and, when recovered as an energy source, helps to reduce air pollution. Pennsauken Landfill provides PPL Energy Services 525 million cubic feet per year of methane gas to power three generators. This directly reduces the emission of methane gas by 5,500 tons per year, which is equivalent to reducing 100,000 metric tons per year of carbon dioxide.

Photovoltaic cells are electricity-producing devices using the sun as its source of clean and abundant fuel. These solar cells are combined to form a power system that can be used in a variety of applications. Each solar panel at the Camden County projects is about 2 feet wide and 4 feet high. They are combined on more than four acres to form two 500-kilowatt solar power plants.

“These projects are a perfect example of what can be accomplished when the public sector and private industry work together,” said Frank Giordano, executive director of the Pollution Control Financing Authority of Camden County, which owns the landfill. “In every sense, this was a cooperative effort among PPL, Aluminum Shapes, the Board of Public Utilities and the state of New Jersey.”

Steven S. Grabell, chief executive officer of Aluminum Shapes, said, “This is a rare opportunity for government and industry to partner together for the direct benefit of the citizenry and environment of our state. In addition to the obvious environmental benefits of reducing methane gas emissions, converting otherwise unused methane and sunlight into electricity has enabled our company to get about 40 percent of its electric at a cost far below current market rates.”

Demonstrating its commitment to the environment, PPL is developing or has developed other clean, renewable and combined heat and power energy projects in the Northeast, including solar cells, fuel cells, microturbines, and natural and landfill gas engines for a variety of customers.

PPL Corporation, headquartered in Allentown, Pa., controls about 11,500 megawatts of generating capacity in the United States, sells energy in key U.S. markets and delivers electricity to more than 5 million customers in Pennsylvania, the United Kingdom and Latin America.

PPL Energy Services LLC is an unregulated subsidiary of PPL Corporation. PPL Energy Services is not the same company as PPL Electric Utilities or PPL Gas Utilities. The prices of PPL Energy Services are not regulated by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission. You do not have to buy PPL Energy Services electricity, natural gas or other products in order to receive the same quality regulated services from PPL Electric Utilities or PPL Gas Utilities.