Inside the Cape Town Landfill Producing Electricity for Thousands of Homes
- Cape Town’s Coastal Park landfill is turning waste gas into electricity, powering homes in the region and cutting harmful emissions
- The landfill collects methane from organic waste and burns it safely to generate energy, reducing greenhouse gas impact
- A portion of the electricity feeds the city grid while the rest powers landfill operations, supporting thousands of households
From managing harmful methane to generating 1.3GWh monthly, Coastal Park’s project shows how innovation can turn waste into a valuable resource. It’s not just about energy, it’s about protecting the environment, reducing carbon emissions, and creating cleaner communities. Cape Town is leading by example, proving that landfills can be part of the solution rather than just a problem.
Source: Facebook
Cape Town is transforming one of its largest landfills into a powerhouse, producing electricity for thousands of homes, according to My Broadband. The Coastal Park landfill near Muizenberg runs a R93-million waste-to-energy project that generates 1.3 gigawatt-hours of electricity per month. The operation started in November 2025 and captures methane gas, a major contributor to global warming, released from decomposing organic waste.
The landfill uses 49 vertical wells, each 30 metres deep, along with horizontal trenches, to collect methane. The gas is channelled through a main collector pipe to an extraction and flaring plant, where it’s treated to remove impurities before being burned in engines. This process produces carbon dioxide and water vapour while preventing excess hydrocarbons from escaping, making it safer for the environment than letting methane vent naturally.
Converting landfill methane into clean energy
A significant portion of the electricity generated, about 1.2 million kWh, is fed into the city’s grid, enough to power more than 4,000 households. The remainder is used to run landfill operations. By converting waste into energy, the project reduces reliance on Eskom, prevents solid waste from accumulating, and helps avoid disease and air contamination in nearby communities. Along the process, the gas is first treated to remove condensate. It is then passed through a heat exchanger, where chilled water from a 110kW chiller provides cooling at 7°C, allowing additional condensate to be extracted.
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The City of Cape Town has already earned R36 million in carbon credits from reduced gas emissions and plans to invest an additional R82 million to expand the project. Cape Town is not alone in this approach; other cities, like eThekwini in KwaZulu-Natal, have successfully leveraged waste-to-electricity plants for years. Coastal Park’s initiative is a clear example of how innovation in waste management can deliver energy, environmental benefits, and community protection all at once.
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3 Other Briefly News stories related to landfills
- Hurricane Nicole made landfall on the Atlantic coast of the US state of Florida, meteorologists said Thursday, sparking mandatory evacuation orders.
- At a sprawling landfill near Madrid, hundreds of white storks dodge garbage trucks as they look for scraps of food among the mountains of multicoloured garbage bags.
- Sixteen people allegedly looking for food and recyclable goods at a landfill site in KwaZulu-Natal were shot at, sparking reactions on social media from concerned South Africans.
Source: Briefly News
