News

Hometown BioEnergy Generating Electricity

January 14, 2014



Innovative Biogas Facility Helps Le Sueur Electric Utility Comply with Renewable Energy Law
Hometown BioEnergy facility in Le Sueur now generating electricity from agricultural waste.

January 14, 2014– Food processing and agricultural waste converted into electrical power is now part of the electricity profile of Le Sueur and 11 other municipal electric utilities which are members of the Minnesota Municipal Power Agency (MMPA).

The Hometown BioEnergy facility, located in Le Sueur, has begun operation on
schedule and is producing electricity from biogas created from agricultural and food
processing waste. The 8 Megawatt facility is the largest of its kind in the country to
employ an anaerobic digestion process — a technology used extensively in Europe.
“Anaerobic digestion is a natural process where waste is heated in large tanks,
and the microbial action results in methane biogas,” said Kelsey Dillon, the project
director of the MMPA facility.

“The process is similar to what happens in a home septic system, where
microbes degrade and stabilize organic matter; but in our case, we heat the material to
accelerate the production of biogas on a commercial scale,” according to Dillon.
“At optimal times when the power is needed, we draw off the biogas from storage
and use it to fuel the electrical generators on the plant site,” she said, pointing out that
this ability to time power production is a significant advantage to the technology.
While the electricity from the site will be consumed in Le Sueur, it is considered
by state regulators to be part of the MMPA’s total renewable energy supply. According to
state law, by 2025 utilities will be required to have at least 25 percent of their power
generated through renewable means (such as wind, solar, hydro or biomass).
The anaerobic digestion process results in two byproducts – a liquid that will
become fertilizer for area farmers and dried solid fuel that will be sold to be burned in
boilers. Dillon said Hometown BioEnergy is working with area businesses and
communities to identify waste that can be converted to energy, rather than ending up in
a landfill or land applied.

MMPA board chairman Steve Schmidt, also a City of Anoka council member,
said, “Homeowners and businesses who rely on our member municipal utilities will
benefit from our mix of cost-effective and local renewable energy generation sources.”
MMPA’s long-time management partner, Avant Energy of Minneapolis, managed
the facility’s innovative design and construction. MMPA financed the $45 million facility
through a combination of federal stimulus grants and municipal bond sales.
Project Director Dillon said, “This project is great for Minnesota and MMPA
communities because it takes waste from Central Minnesota and converts it into
electricity that is used locally and helps meet renewable energy requirements.
“We also hope it serves as an inspiration for other renewable energy facilities of
this type in the state and around the country,” Dillon said.
#
Cutline for attached exterior photo: The Hometown BioEnergy electrical power
generation facility owned by the Minnesota Municipal Power Agency in Le Sueur
includes feedstock receiving space in front, plus anaerobic digestion tanks and biogas
storage in back. The larger of the two buildings houses four large generators that
convert methane biogas into electricity.

Cutline for interior photo: Inside the facility, four industrial Cummins generators burn
methane biogas to generate electricity.

More information about MMPA is available at www.mmpa.org. Members include
municipal utilities in Anoka, Arlington, Brownton, Buffalo, Chaska, East Grand Forks, Elk River,
Le Sueur, North St. Paul, Olivia, Shakopee and Winthrop. Avant Energy, a Minneapolis-based
energy management company, is an innovative supplier of energy project development,
management, trading, consulting and utility operations services. See more at
www.avantenergy.com.

Contact:
Bob Rumpza, Rumpza Consulting, 612-309-3971, bob@rumpzaconsulting.com

.