In 2003, Mexico's Salinas Victoria used landfill methane to tackle waste pollution; the result made 7 MW, powering 25,000 homes and Monterrey’s public transport network daily

In 2003, an ambitious waste-to-energy project in Salinas Victoria, Nuevo León, Mexico, demonstrated that a landfill could become more than a place for discarded materials. Instead, methane produced naturally as buried organic waste decomposed was captured and converted into electricity. The Bioenergía de Nuevo León (BENLESA) project began operations in September 2003 with an initial generating capacity of about 7 megawatts (MW). Contemporary and World Bank materials describe the project as an effort to reduce pollution and greenhouse-gas emissions associated with landfill methane while putting the gas to productive use. The initiative became an important example of landfill-gas-to-energy technology in Latin America, linking waste management, renewable energy and urban infrastructure in the Monterrey metropolitan area.

The basic idea behind the project was relatively simple but technically significant. As organic material decomposes without oxygen inside a landfill, it produces landfill gas containing methane. Rather than allowing that gas to escape into the atmosphere or simply burning it without recovering its energy, the Salinas Victoria project installed a collection system to capture it.

World Bank reports that the initial system covered approximately 44 hectares and used a network of pipelines to transport collected gas toward a central generation facility. Seven internal-combustion engines, each rated at 1.06 MW, were installed to convert the methane-rich gas into electricity. In this way, a byproduct of waste decomposition became a fuel for power generation.


The landfill itself was substantial, serving the waste-management needs of the surrounding metropolitan population. World Bank project documentation recorded an annualized average waste intake of about 830,000 tonnes at the wider landfill system, while the gas-extraction cells contained millions of tonnes of previously deposited waste.

The initial gas-extraction area had been closed and capped before the energy project was developed. Estimates prepared for the project indicated that the selected gas-extraction cells contained approximately 7.7 million tonnes of waste and could generate around 313 million cubic meters of landfill gas over the project's lifetime. Measured landfill gas contained roughly 50% to 60% methane, giving the material significant potential as an energy source.

The electricity produced by the Salinas Victoria facility had a distinctly local purpose. Early reports said the initial 7 MW plant could provide electricity equivalent to the needs of approximately 25,000 small homes, while also supporting public infrastructure in the Monterrey metropolitan area. The power was used for public lighting and other municipal needs, and the project became particularly notable for supplying electricity to Metrorrey,

Monterrey's urban rail system. The University of Nuevo León similarly describes the landfill-gas electricity as supporting public lighting in seven metropolitan municipalities, state government facilities, Parque Fundidora and the Metrorrey collective transportation system. These applications illustrated how energy recovered from municipal waste could be connected directly to essential urban services.

The project was also structured as a public-private partnership rather than being developed solely by government agencies. The landfill owner, SIMEPRODE, initiated an international two-stage bidding process in October 2000, and Bioeléctrica S.A. de C.V. was selected as the winning private partner in December 2001. A special-purpose company, Bioenergía de Nuevo León, S.A. de C.V., or BENLESA, was subsequently established to operate and maintain the plant.

According to the World Bank, SIMEPRODE contributed approximately $5.1 million to the initial capital, while Bioeléctrica contributed about $5.7 million along with technology. The project also received financial support from the World Bank and Global Environment Facility, demonstrating how international financing could help establish infrastructure for landfill-gas recovery.

One of the most important environmental benefits came from controlling methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Landfill methane is created naturally as biodegradable waste decomposes under oxygen-free conditions. Capturing it prevents uncontrolled release and allows its energy content to be used for electricity generation. A later World Bank evaluation reported that the 7 MW plant successfully captured methane from the 44-hectare filled cell at the SIMEPRODE landfill.

The evaluation stated that, from October 2006 onward, the plant had burned methane equivalent to approximately 700,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide and generated 180 GWh of electricity for public lighting, water pumping and Monterrey's metro system. These later figures show how the original 2003 infrastructure developed into a continuing waste-to-energy operation rather than being merely a short-term demonstration.

The Salinas Victoria experience also showed how waste management and energy planning can intersect. The World Bank reports that the plant eventually supplied almost 60% of the energy needed for public street lighting, public buildings and drinking-water pumping in the Monterrey metropolitan area, while covering about 80% of the energy requirements of Monterrey's transportation system. The facility could also cover its own electricity needs.

These figures refer to the project's later operating performance rather than its initial 2003 output, an important distinction when describing the development of the system. The project subsequently expanded beyond its original 7 MW configuration, reflecting the possibility of extracting additional value from landfill gas as collection infrastructure developed.

The story of Salinas Victoria remains a notable example of how cities can rethink the relationship between waste and energy. In 2003, methane generated inside a landfill was transformed from an environmental management challenge into a fuel for electricity production, with the initial 7 MW plant providing power equivalent to the needs of roughly 25,000 small homes and supporting public infrastructure including Monterrey's urban transportation system.

The project combined methane capture, electricity generation, municipal services and public-private investment in one integrated model. Its significance lies not simply in the amount of electricity generated, but in the principle it demonstrated: waste buried decades earlier could still contain recoverable energy, and carefully designed landfill-gas systems could turn that resource into useful power while reducing uncontrolled methane emissions.