Though the county landfill is scheduled to reach capacity in three years, its energy can be used for the next 20.
UNC Energy Services Director Raymond DuBose said the methane produced by the Eubanks Road landfill will be used to power University buildings.
The project was initially designed to retrieve gas released by the landfill and convert it into usable energy for Carolina North, a research and mixed-use satellite campus off of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
And though development is stalled on Carolina North for at least the next year, the energy can be used for UNC buildings on Airport Drive.
DuBose said the project will begin in about a year and is expected to cost about $5 million.
The groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled for Nov. 16.
The Orange County Solid Waste Management Department signed a contract with UNC in February 2009 to develop a landfill gas recovery project.
The process will have two phases, said Gayle Wilson, the director of Orange County Solid Waste Management.
First the county will install a collection system of pipes to distribute burned-off methane to a single point. The gas will then be moved to power an electrical generator for the University.