OREANDA-NEWS. GE (NYSE: GE) is supplying eight of its 1.4 megawatt (MW) ecomagination qualified Jenbacher J420 biogas engines for a new cogeneration plant that will generate 11.2 MW of renewable on-site power at the Dan Region (Shafdan) Wastewater Treatment Plant, which is the biggest of its kind in Israel, located south of Tel Aviv, near the city of Rishon Lezion.

The Shafdan wastewater treatment plant is the largest wastewater treatment plant in Israel and treats municipal wastewater for 2 million people in central Israel. “Mey Ezor Dan” Cooperative Agricultural Water Society LTD (MED) owns and operates Shafdan. MED also is responsible for collecting and treating sewage in the Dan Region. The Shafdan WWTP treats 380,000 cubic meters of municipal wastewater a day from Tel Aviv and surrounding municipalities.

MED, with CDM Smith, designed the new bioenergy facility that will consist of eight anaerobic digesters with a volume of 13,200 cubic meters each—among the largest in the world. The facility will also include one of the world’s largest staged-thermophilic anaerobic digestion processes.

To improve the treatment plant’s efficiency and reduce its environmental impacts, MED is installing the anaerobic digestion system and biogas cogeneration plant to provide on-site heat and power to run the digesters as well as power for the rest of the Shafdan site.

Madei Taas, GE’s authorized Jenbacher gas engines distributor in Israel, and Elco Contracting and Services Ltd.—the country’s largest electro-mechanical contractor— submitted the winning tender to build the new biogas power plant. For the winning bid, Madei Taas emphasized the superior reliability and efficiency of GE’s Jenbacher biogas engine technology compared to other generating equipment.

“GE’s proven Jenbacher units will play a key role in the success of MED’s cogeneration project by generating up to 70 percent of the power required to run the facility while also offering MED important energy savings, particularly during the peak demand periods,” said Eli Matz, general manager of Madei Taas.

The project ties in with the Israeli government’s support of expanding biogas energy production through the creation of a special feed-in tariff that makes such renewable energy projects more economically viable.

GE’s ecomagination qualified biogas engines are scheduled to be delivered to Israel in April 2014 and installed by October 2014. The new biogas power plant is scheduled to start commercial operation in 2015 and is expected to serve as an important model for other similar projects in Israel and throughout the world.

“We are very pleased to demonstrate the economic and environmental benefits of our Jenbacher biogas engines, which can help MED and other industrial operations in Israel reduce the environmental impacts of their activities while also helping them capture and reuse their own waste products as a ‘free’ energy resource," said Karl Wetzlmayer, general manager—gas engines for GE Power & Water.

GE's Jenbacher units are part of GE’s ecomagination portfolio. To qualify for the portfolio, products and services must demonstrate both improved economic value and environmental performance. Ecomagination is GE’s commitment to provide innovative solutions that maximize resources, drive efficiencies and make the world work better.