Waste plant to make electricity from manure (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel/ENN)

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Waste plant to make electricity from manure
Tuesday, May 9, 2000

By Lee Hawkins Jr., Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

http://www.enn.com/news/wire-stories/2000/05/05092000/krt_poopower_12776.asp

[Fair Use: For Educational/Research Purposes Only]

Wisconsin Electric Power Co. said last week that it will begin purchasing power from a facility being built near Shawano that uses cow manure to help generate electricity as part of its growing renewable-energy program.

The company has signed a 10-year contract that calls for Microgy Cogeneration Systems Inc. of Golden, Colo., to build, own and operate the plant, which will have a generating capacity of about one megawatt, said Chris Schoenherr, a senior renewable energy strategist for Wisconsin Electric.

Construction of the plant will begin this summer at Schmidt Ponderosa Dairy Farm in Bonduel, about 12 miles east of Shawano. Paul Schmidt owns the farm.

The plant will begin working this fall, the companies said.

Cow manure contains methane, which also is found in natural gas. Microgy will store manure in a barn-like facility called a digester, which captures the methane the manure releases as it decomposes.

"The Microgy facility will collect the methane and use it to fuel a small power plant," Schoenherr said.

The deal will help Wisconsin Electric comply with a state mandate that utilities generate a small percentage of their power using renewable energy.

One megawatt typically is enough to power about 300 homes.

Wisconsin Electric declined to disclose the value of the contract, but Schoenherr said the price of the power is competitive with that of other renewable energy. Renewable energy is typically more expensive to generate, in part because of the technology used to produce it.

Schoenherr said the manure facility will be the first in the United States to use Microgy's digester technology. Microgy has built similar facilities in Denmark.

Wisconsin Electric will use the farm as a testing site and may expand the generating capacity there.

"This has a lot of real possibilities in terms of different ways to manage animal waste. It will be a tremendous benefit to the agricultural industry as far as environmental concerns," Schmidt said.

Microgy and Wisconsin Electric are also considering building plants at other farms, Schoenherr said.

"We want to see how it works and how it would impact the distribution system," he said.

Though the utility doesn't anticipate any major problems, "one megawatt of generating capacity could have some impacts on the flow of energy through the distribution system," Schoenherr said.

The state Public Service Commission told Wisconsin utilities last year that they need to begin generating 0.5 percent of their power using renewable energy by Dec. 31, 2001. The percentage requirement will increase every other year until it reaches 2.2 percent in 2011, said Jeff Butson, a PSC spokesman.

Wisconsin Electric expects that the combination of the Schmidt facility and some of its other projects will enable it to fulfill the mandate over the next few years.

"We are acting early on the provision. We want get out in front of these things," Schoenherr said. "We will be fine in 2001, and we will be in relatively good shape for several years going out."

Among Wisconsin Electric's other renewable programs is a landfill gas-generation deal the company has with Waste Management of Milwaukee.

Wisconsin Electric and Waste Management signed a five-year contract last year calling for Waste Management to develop 7.5 megawatts of new generating power in addition to the 16.2 megawatts that Wisconsin Electric was already receiving from the company.

Copyright 2000, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune
All Rights Reserved



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