New Hanover County, N.C., is negotiating with Covanta Energy Corp. to renovate its waste-to-energy facility.

The county commissioners picked the Morristown, N.J.-based Covanta to negotiate with to refurbish and operate the facility. The environmental consulting firm Gershman, Brickner & Bratton Inc., based in Fairfax, Va., is continuing to assist on the negotiation process, GBB said in a news release.

The project to renovate the Sustainable Energy Facility (SEF) is estimated to cost about $27 million, and it will take about 15 months to complete. As a result of the renovation and long-term cost increases, tipping fees at the county landfill that feeds the facility are expected to climb to between $85 and $90 a ton, from the current $59 a ton.

The SEF utilizes a mass-burn technology that generates steam for electrical production. The facility has a gross capacity for 10.5 megawatts of power.