American Samoa Power Authority has moved forward with their Waste to Energy project and has selected ICRC Solutions LLC, a company from South Carolina  for the job. Company principals were recently on island to conduct due diligence and meet with ASPA, Department of Commerce and American Samoa EPA.

This was confirmed by ASPA CEO Utu Abe Malae and revealed during the cabinet meeting this week where he told members that the contract has been signed.

Responding to Samoa News queries, Utu said they are running out of space at the Futiga landfill and so in 2013, ASPA issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a "Waste to Energy" plant with minimal emissions and waste products plus low carbon footprint. (Mass burning Waste to Energy was not an option.)

“ASPA and the community of American Samoa would benefit from extension of the life of the landfill, low cost fuel to power the generators, reduction of the cost of electricity and water to customers, and recovery of marketable byproducts,” he told Samoa News.

“Once a technology is proven feasible, two important factors must be addressed early: the financing and then the operations of the plant. The financing part has been addressed satisfactorily and the success of the operations will depend on the knowledge and skills of the employees.” Utu further noted the plant manager will be looking for two dozen workers and will be accessing the apprenticeship program at ASCC for training.

He said a feasible and proven technology with application to a tropical, high humidity, high salt-spray environment such as American Samoa must attract financiers. “To that end the contractor selected to embark on this project was able to secure financing of about $20 million on its own, without recourse to grants or equity from ASPA or ASG.”

He told Samoa News the plant would receive about 60 tons of MSW (municipal solid waste) per day. “Certain recyclables (such as metals and glass) will be separated for recovery and cannot be used as plant feed stock.

“Even if other sources of energy are developed — such as geothermal, wind and solar — Waste to Energy cannot be easily replaced because unlike the others, it reduces the volume of waste disposed at the landfill.”