Dive Brief:
- A Colorado developer has begun construction on a $100 million facility in North Carolina that will take pig waste and convert it into pipeline-quality methane gas for use in Duke Energy power plants.
- North Carolina has a statewide goal for power produced using farm waste, but generating energy from swine poop has been a challenge. The state has extended goal deadlines five times, most recently in October.
- But the Carbon Cycle Energy plant, being developed in Duplin County, N.C., could help the state finally meet its target. Duke expects to produce about 125,000 MWh of energy annually, with gas from the plant.
Dive Insight:
Duke officials say the new plant will be a "major part" of its plan to help the state meet its swine power goals. The facility is expected to be operational 2018, and the News & Observer reports it will produce gas from a range of sources including poultry waste, animal remains and food processing scraps.
“This is a big development for biogas in North Carolina. It will be a major part of Duke Energy’s efforts to meet the carve out for swine waste-to-power in the state," said Duke spokesman Randy Wheeless.
Earlier this year, Duke announced that a 15-year contract the Carbon Cycle Energy plant will produce more than 1 million MMBtus of pipeline-quality captured methane a year. That gas should yield about 125,000 MWh of renewable energy a year, or enough to power about 10,000 homes.
Renewable energy credits generated by the effort will help satisfy state goals, the company said. Swine waste is supposed make up 0.07% of the utility's annual sales, a 2012 goal which has so far eluded the state. Poultry droppings were supposed to generate 170,000 MWh of electricity from all of the utilities; that goal has been reached.
Duke said that methane produced by the Carbon Cycle plant will be used at the Buck Steam Station in Rowan County; Dan River Steam Station in Rockingham County; H.F. Lee Station Combined Cycle Plant in Wayne County; and the Sutton Combined Cycle Plant in New Hanover County.