Blue Sphere Starts Construction of Rhode Island Waste-to-Energy Unit

Blue Sphere Corp. will begin construction of a waste-to-energy project in Johnston, R.I.

Blue Sphere, based in Even Yehuda, Israel, said the facility will produce 3.2 megawatts of energy from food waste. The electricity will be sold to NG to provide power for local homes and businesses, according to a news release.

The facility should be operational by the fourth quarter of this year.

Blue Sphere has planned a waste-to-energy operation in Rhode Island since 2012. But it had not previously identified a location.

The project is a joint venture with an affiliate of New York-based York Capital Management to develop, construct and operate the facility with management by Entropy Investment Management, of Charlotte, N.C.

Orbit Energy Inc., Raleigh, N.C., also is co-developing the project with the inclusion of two of Orbit’s high solid anaerobic digester units to work in parallel with the digesters of Austep S.p.A.

"This facility is the ultimate landfill because we take waste in the front end and nothing coming out,” said Blue Sphere CEO Shlomi Palas. “There’s no smell, just electricity and compost."

 Blue Sphere has committed to compiling a team of locally based consultants and contractors.

Blue Sphere also is developing a 5.2 megawatt waste-to-energy facility in Charlotte. Design work on the plant began last May; in February of this year Blue Sphere formed the joint venture with York Capital, which gave the company a 25-percent ownership in that project. The company also expects the Charlotte operation to begin production in the fourth quarter of this year.

The company said a large power company in the U.S. has a signed a long-term contract with Blue Sphere to purchase electricity generated at the Charlotte plant. A large privately held composting company will purchase the compost byproduct from the facility.
By 2018 Blue Sphere plans to have built 11 facilities, with six more under development.

From its Rhode Island and North Carolina facilities, Blue Sphere expects revenue to total $150 million in the next 15 years.