North Carolina (NC) based Duke Energy, one of the largest energy holding companies in the United States (US) has announced that it has renewed a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) with Craven County Wood Energy (CCWE), a 50 MW baseload biomass power facility in North Carolina. The deal enables Duke Energy to better meet the state mandate for renewable energy generated by swine and poultry waste.
Owned by a partnership of CMS Generation and Decker Energy, the Craven County Wood Energy (CCWE) facility uses mainly wood waste and poultry (turkey) as fuel. Throughout its 25 years of operation, the facility has been upgraded to use more poultry waste – going from 10 percent to 25 percent currently and with plans to go as high as 30 percent.
Under North Carolina’s Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standard (REPS), Duke Energy must eventually meet 0.21 percent of its overall power sales with energy generated by swine and poultry waste. North Carolina is the only state with a renewable energy carveout for swine and poultry waste.
The increased usage of poultry waste will help Duke Energy better meet state mandates for renewable energy and makes the facility more valuable to the company and its customers, said Gary Freeman, general manager of Duke Energy’s renewable energy compliance.
The poultry waste requirement is set to increase over the next two years, and the CCWE contract will provide Duke Energy with valuable RECs to meet the increased compliance requirements. Duke Energy will buy 100 percent of the energy and associated renewable energy certificates (RECs) from the facility. A REC is a commodity equal to 1 megawatt-hour (MWh) of renewable generation.
We are pleased that we will continue to provide renewable, reliable energy that meets the needs of homes and businesses in our region – while also continuing to support not only our employees but 150 other families who supply us with goods and materials, said Robert Van Ells, plant manager, CCWE.
