Innovative Duke Energy project to use biogas from North Carolina hog farms

Duke Energy said recently that a new power plant will use renewable natural gas from North Carolina-based hog farms to produce electricity, the first use of this technology from in-state farms.

“Optima KV is just the first of more projects where directed biogas will be used at Duke Energy power plants to create efficient renewable energy,” David Fountain, Duke Energy’s North Carolina president, said. “Getting projects to a meaningful scale is important as we advance this innovative technology.”

The Optima KV project in Duplin County captures methane gas from hog waste from five local farms. It uses more than 42,000 feet of in-ground piping to move the methane to a central location where the gas is cleaned and converted to pipeline-quality natural gas.

The project then injects the renewable natural gas into the Piedmont Natural Gas system, which transports it to Duke Energy’s Smith Energy Complex in Richmond County where it is used to produce electricity.

The project completed its interconnection to Piedmont Natural Gas last week. The project is expected to yield about 11,000 megawatt-hours of electricity.

“This is a major breakthrough for renewable energy in North Carolina,” Fountain said. “This project allows for the capture of emissions from hog operations and converts the renewable natural gas to electricity for customers. We look forward to continuing our work on future projects.”

Under the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standard law in North Carolina, Duke Energy is required to generate 0.20 percent of its retail sales from swine waste by 2023.