Hometown BioEnergy is an important component of
MMPA’s commitment towards local, sustainable energy production. Hometown BioEnergy will generate
power from food processing wastes creating electricity, liquid fertilizer and solid fuel.
Electricity: Supplies Power Locally
Biogas will be used to produce electricity, which will be delivered directly to the City of Le Sueur.
Liquid Fertilizer: Supports Local Farmers
Nutrient rich liquid fertilizer by-product will be sold to local farmers at a very competitive price.
Solid Fuel: Replaces Coal
Undigested biomass will be dried to create solid fuel, which will be burned off site in biomass and coal fired boilers.
Local and Sustainable Electricity
The electricity from the facility will be used by MMPA and the city utility to help meet the state-mandated requirement of 25 percent of electricity from renewable sources by the year 2025. MMPA expects the project to create over one hundred jobs during construction and approximately 7 -10 permanent jobs at the facility and seasonal jobs.
Hometown BioEnergy Process
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Established Technology
Biogas facilities have been a staple of European renewable energy supply for over 20 years. In Germany alone, there are 5,905 biogas plants – totaling over 2,291,000 kilowatts.
MMPA has selected a Danish company, Xergi A/S, to provide plant and process design. Xergi A/S has significant experience in Europe with multiple feedstock, anaerobic digestion plants. They have provided technical solutions for close to forty similar biogas plants worldwide.
Minnesota Renewable Energy Requirements
The electricity from the Hometown BioEnergy facility will help MMPA meet the state-mandated renewable energy requirements of 12 percent of utilities’ electricity from renewable sources by 2012, increasing to 25 percent by 2025.
Hometown BioEnergy is one component of MMPA’s renewable energy portfolio. MMPA’s strategy to comply with Minnesota’s Renewable Energy Standard includes generating power through wind and bioenergy projects, as well as buying renewable power on the open market. The addition of bioenergy to MMPA’s portfolio provides reliable electricity to homes and businesses during the day, when electricity demand is at its peak.
MPCA Hometown BioEnergy Environmental Review
On April 24, 2012 the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) Citizen’s Board voted unanimously that the Hometown BioEnergy renewable energy facility does not require an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and may proceed with the permitting process.
After its Environmental Assessment Worksheet review process and public comment period, the staff recommendation was that the project “. . . does not have the potential for significant environmental effects.”
To view the Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law and Order click here. For the Environmental Assessment Worksheet as published by the MPCA click here.
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