A big juicy turkey may be the centerpiece of your Thanksgiving table. It’s likely the bird came from right here in our own state, since North Carolina ranks second in the nation for turkey production. Now, a $25 million plant in Sampson County promising to transform turkey house waste into electricity is being built. The 165,000 square foot facility, east of Clinton, broke ground this summer. Vice President of PrestageAgEnergy Michael Pope says the Moltonville based project has been in the works since 2011.
“It’s taken so long because we spent a lot of time in development and researching different technologies to make sure that the application and technology we were using would be successful.”
According to Pope, there’s fewer than six companies in the state that have permits to use poultry litter, a blend of manure and bedding material, for fuel. He says the approved companies must adhere to certain guidelines.
“All the information we have is that no one else is even exceed 40% poultry litter in their fuel source. Many have to supplement the majority of their fuel blend has to be woodchips and the poultry litter they’re using is a certain type of poultry litter that comes from young polts and chicks.”
Pope says the plant in Sampson County will be the first in the country to use 100% poultry litter as a fuel source.
Currently, the turkey waste from Prestage Farms poultry houses is collected and transported to fields where it is applied as a fertilizer. But when the facility becomes operational, Pope says the wood based turkey litter will instead go to the plant where it is used as fuel.
“We’ll go through about 50,000 to 55,000 tons of poultry litter per year.”
He says there won’t be a smell from the litter being burned. The new facility is designed so that a negative draft in the boiler will pull odors from the building where the soon-to-be-used litter is stored.
“We take the litter, it’s our fuel source, we use it to heat water and create high pressure steam in our boiler. And from there, we send it through some turbines to generate electricity.”
The system is capable of generating over 95 thousand Mwh a year. In addition to generating renewable power that will be sold back to the grid, Pope says some of the steam from the boiler will be used to operate an existing feed mill that produces all of their turkey feed and some hog feed.
“Steam is used in the process to pelletize the feed and they use natural gas to produce that steam. Well, it’s a nice fit we can come in using renewable energy, renewable fuel source, generate steam and supply the steam to that feed mill that they need and displace natural gas at that site.”
The boiler will operate at 1500 degrees, which Pope says is high enough to provide steam for the mill, and low enough to generate an ash byproduct that can be repurposed as fertilizer.
“At the end of the day, we take what's left of that ash byproduct that can go into the fertilizer market, can go to local blenders, it can go straight in the field. It also allows us the ability to take a high phosphate rich product and export it out of this region.”
The project, Pope says, helps fill the state’s 2007 energy policy mandate that requires utilities to provide poultry waste generated power. In addition to the energy savings, the plant will have zero waste water discharge. Pope says the project has taken longer than expected, but he’s excited to see it come together.
“The last thing we want to do is be the first one to go out there and use 100% poultry litter as our fuel source and then fall flat. That sort of leaves a bad taste in everyone’s mouth regarding poultry litter as a viable fuel source.”
The new plant is expected to create 16 jobs. Up to a dozen indirect jobs would be added related to litter clean out from poultry houses and transporting the waste to the facility. So far, steel beams have been erected at the site and the boiler has been installed. The facility is slated to be finished by early next year.
