Leveraging Waste as an Energy Force Multiplier

---

By Dave Robau, CEM, LEED AP, M.SAME, Emily Carlisle, M.SAME, and Norman Campbell, CEM, F.SAME

Isolated from the mainland and operating at the edge of the power grid, Naval Air Station Key West is evaluating a waste‑to‑energy microgrid that would convert local refuse into on‑site, dispatchable power.

Located on the farthest edge of the State of Florida at the most southern point within the Continental United States, Naval Air Station (NAS) Key West operates on the extreme end of the nation’s power grid. That isolation, while a necessary trade-off of having military capability in a geographically advantageous position, does also impact U.S. Navy readiness. NAS Key West depends on a single transmission line that stretches over 100-mi through the Florida Keys. That reliance leaves it vulnerable to weather, salt air corrosion, and infrastructure degradation. These conditions routinely affect power quality and reliability, placing critical operations and force protection systems at risk.

While NAS Key West maintains both centralized and distributed diesel backup power, restoring full mission capability after a grid outage requires extensive switching, coordination, and generator deployment. These add time, fuel costs, and operational risk.

Diesel-fueled generators remain useful for short-term backup during emergencies or power outages. High fuel costs and low efficiency make them prohibitively expensive for continuous baseload operation. Because using diesel generators costs as much as five times more than grid power, dependence on generators brings an inherent risk to the mission.

The isolated location of NAS Key West creates logistical hurdles and financial impacts for waste management. Municipal solid waste and sewage waste must be hauled more than 400-mi round trip to the mainland for disposal, increasing both costs and environmental impact.
To address the energy capability and waste management concerns, NAS Key West, supported by Navy Region Southeast, is evaluating a waste-powered energy microgrid solution. This approach converts waste streams into engineered fuel that directly supports on-site power production.

Enabling Resilience

For military installations and other campus-like communities, microgrid distribution and control systems are a reliable alternative when optimizations are required for higher-level grids or supply costs. With a grid-connected operation, microgrids enable dependable energy from innovative generation sources at high-peak and low-peak times.

This solution enables mission continuity, energy security, and sustainable operations, even under contested or degraded grid conditions. Using an “energy as a service” business model, the Navy can take advantage of energy resilience with minimal or no capital investment required of the government. This arrangement improves energy security by designing, financing, and operating modern energy systems through third-party capital.

Under energy as a service at Key West, industry partner National Energy would manage system performance and maintenance and assume all lifecycle risk. The utility ensures uninterrupted power without burdening the installation’s budget.

Powering Sustainably

A waste-powered energy microgrid transforms municipal solid waste, biomass, and other organic/cellulosic residues into on-demand, baseload renewable power. Unlike intermittent sources like solar or wind, this technology provides a dispatchable energy source derived from locally available feedstocks, turning waste liabilities into valuable energy assets.

The dual-use technology combines two innovative solutions to process solid waste destined for the landfill and convert the organic fraction into an engineered fuel used for on-demand power generation. The system, which uses recent advances in artificial intelligence and optical sensors, consists of a front-end process that extracts recyclable commodities and isolates organic waste, and a back-end power generation system. It deploys machine-learning robots that identify and separate valuable recyclables from the incoming municipal solid waste stream. The organic materials then are processed into a clean, renewable solid fuel. Certified by the Environmental Protection Agency as a “non-hazardous secondary fuel,” the output is versatile in application. Uses range from thermal energy, electricity and biogas to hydrogen and sustainable aviation fuel.

Digital Twin Design

Utilizing state-of-the-art microgrid controls, protection, and distribution systems, the waste-powered energy microgrid is based on a digital twin design, to model interactions and operation of the system with the existing distribution network. This enables the customer and owner/operator to see exactly how the system will operate and which components are required to meet the current use case.

In addition, the digital twin remains for the life of the installation, which allows for operational data input and the ability to adjust for future scope or operational conditions. The integrated nature of the electric distribution and control system, coupled with energy management software, means the energy generation system can meet connected load and ensure continuous electrical supply.

The digital twin concept has proven successful in the design and operation of the largest microgrid at a defense facility to date. In planning for the microgrid at NAS Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for instance, the digital twin modeled renewable assets, prime generation liquified natural gas turbines, batteries, and backup generators. As a result, the microgrid control system can operate and balance the supply and loads to provide enhanced resilience for the base to meet its national security mission.

Future installation changes are already being modeled in the digital twin. These will assist architecture and engineering firms in providing a design that minimizes risks, brackets costs, and provides accurate operational performance.

Dual-Benefit Solution

Both the City of Key West and the naval base can benefit greatly from the waste-to-energy investment. For the city, it can achieve increased landfill diversion rates of up to 90 percent, cost reduction associated with waste hauling, and sustainable waste management practices. The ability to scale operation for growing and unplanned waste production, such as that generated from extreme weather events, could provide further benefits.

Throughout this effort, National Energy will analyze the potential to convert solid waste produced on the island into electricity and thermal energy using advanced thermochemical or biological processes. The evaluation will include the integration of microgrid infrastructure to support base operations, reduce diesel generator reliance, and enhance energy resilience. By converting waste into baseload power, NAS Key West has the potential to transform a saddling liability into a strategic asset.

Dave Robau, CEM, LEED AP, M.SAME, is Chief Executive Officer, and Emily Carlisle, M.SAME, is Environmental Scientist, National Energy USA. They can be reached at 
daver@nationalenergyusa.com; and emily@nationalenergyusa.com. 

Norman Campbell, CEM, F.SAME, is Federal Business Development Manager, Siemens Infrastructure Federal; norman.campbell@siemens.com.

Published in the March-April 2026 issue of The Military Engineer