US Renewable energy firm Ameresco, Inc. (NYSE: AMRC) and the Philadelphia Water Department (PWD) have announced an agreement to design, build and maintain an innovative wastewater biogas-to-energy facility.

The Northeast Water Pollution Control Plant (NEWPCP) Biogas Project will generate electricity and thermal energy for use on-site, fuelled mainly by biogas from the NEWPCP digesters.

The $47.5m construction project, designed to generate 5.6 MW of power, is expected to reduce PWD energy costs by over $12m over the course of the 16 year contract.

The project is expected to reduce carbon emissions by nearly 22,000 tonnes per year, which equates to the removal of 4,833 cars off the road or the planting of 5,390 acres of pine forest.

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