Gov. John deJongh Jr. signed a memorandum of agreement this week for development of an alternative power production station at the Bovoni landfill. The plant will burn methane create by waste at the St. Thomas landfill.

The project will generate 815 kilowatts of electricity, which will be used to power the Mangrove Lagoon Wastewater Treatment Plant and other needs of the landfill, with excess power sold to the V.I. Water and Power Authority.

“I signed an amended memorandum of agreement to ensure this project moves along on a proper time frame, and all funds are efficiently spent so we can realize the fruition of this important alternative energy source,” deJongh said in a statement released Thursday by Government House.

The gas-to-energy facility will be built by Island Roads Corporation, a St. Thomas company. The plant will collect and alter methane emissions generated by buried waste, turning it into a clean burning fuel, according to the news release.

The memorandum of agreement sets the completion date of the project to Sept. 16. The deadline to spend all funds for the project has been pushed back from the end of last year to Aug. 31. The project is funded by a U.S. Department of Energy project grant of $3,014,046 being administered by the VI Energy Office.