Northern Biogas official Robert McHale (standing) speaks about a plan to convert raw gas generated by the Mount Carberry landfill to clean natural gas. Listening to McHale's presentation and viewing a project diagram at the April 1 Berlin planning board are members Jeffrey Quackenbush (foreground) and Paul Grenier. (Lisa D. Connell photo)
Northern Biogas official Robert McHale appeared before both the Coos County and Berlin planning boards in recent weeks to conduct conceptual reviews of the project. He said his company’s subsidiary, Mt. Carberry Project, LLC, will construct the facility on land owned by the district and leased to the company.
The natural gas facility, in the unincorporated place of Success, will process up to 2,500 cubic feet per minute of landfill gas from the landfill. Landfill gas is a natural byproduct of the decomposition of organic matter in landfills. The methane will be compressed and injected into the nearby natural gas transmission pipeline at a metering & regulation station in Berlin. The plant will occupy about three acres while the metering and regulation station in Berlin will require about half an acre. The plant and station will be connected by a Northern Biogas pipeline constructed entirely on the solid waste district’s property.
While final equipment specifications are ongoing, McHale said pressure-swing adsorption equipment will be used to separate impurities from the methane gas. He said impurities removed from the gas are allowed to evaporate in the air. Asked at the Coos County planning board meeting about odors from the process, McHale said no odor is allowed under state permitting, according to meeting minutes.
He said a 6-foot chain-link fence with three strands of barbed wire on top will surround the metering and regulation station in Berlin. Berlin Assistant City Manager and Director of Strategic Initiatives Pamela Laflamme said Liberty Utilities owns a similar metering and regulation station on East Milan Road if board members want to see one.
McHale said his company was doing the conceptual reviews so the planning boards would have an understanding of the project when the site plan process gets underway. The facility will also require permits from state agencies including the Department of Environmental Services.
Construction will take up to one year, and McHale said it will require dozens of mechanical, electrical, piping and other craft tradespersons. Once constructed, the facility will operate continuously with two to three permanent, full-time employees.
McHale told the Berlin planning board meeting at its April 1 meeting that his company wants to get off on the right foot with the project.
“The reason we are here tonight is because we are not a shortcut company,” he said, stressing that they follow the rules and want to know the city’s expectations. McHale said Northern Biogas is sensitive to local concerns like noise and light.
“It’s not a good neighbor to come in and create a problem,” he said.
Asked what is currently done with the landfill gas, McHale said the district uses flares to burn the gas.
He said Northern Biogas started in Green Bay, Wisconsin, back in 2004 building anaerobic digesters for dairy farms. He said the management team has over 100 years of experience in the natural gas industry.
The solid waste district selected Northern Biogas to finance, build and operate a landfill gas-to-energy plant over 10 other firms that submitted proposals. A pair of consultants, hired by the district, narrowed the number to two finalists, Northern Biogas and Ameresco, Inc., of Framingham, Mass., and an agreement between the district and Northern Biogas was finalized at the end of 2024.
Northern Biogas’s proposal called for it to post an initial $10 million payment to the district and a split of gross revenues providing the district with annual revenue of between an estimated $4.2 million to $5.8 million. Over the 20-year life of the contract, the company calculates the district will receive gross revenues ranging from $107.8 million to $140.5 million.
The company in December was given a three-month extension to post the $10 million. At its March 20 meeting, the AVRRDD board agreed to amend its purchase and sales agreement to require an immediate $400,000 non-refundable payment and the remaining $9.6 million by June 25.
AVRRDD is made up of the member communities of Berlin, Gorham, Dummer, Northumberland, Stark, Jefferson, Randolph, Errol, Milan, and the Coos County unincorporated places.