Smithfield Foods and Dominion Energy are breaking ground in Sampson and Duplin on what is being called the largest renewable natural gas project in North Carolina, which will begin by spanning 19 farms and producing enough energy to power more than 3,500 homes, industry officials say.

The joint venture has been deemed Align Renewable Natural Gas, through which hog manure will be converted to renewable energy that can heat homes and power local industries. Already a multi-state initiative, Align RNG is slated to bring projects in the near future to Sampson as well as to Duplin, where a pilot project is already in operation.

“We have been looking at manure-to-energy for two decades,” said Kraig Westerbeek, senior director of Smithfield Renewables and hog production environmental affairs. “It’s always been possible to do. What has changed is the market for renewables. That value has really helped the process.”

In November 2018, it was announced that Dominion Energy and Smithfield Foods Inc. were joining forces as part of what they called “a first of its kind” project in Align.

An informational seminar on the venture is scheduled for this Thursday, Aug. 15, at Sampson County Agri-Exposition Center’s Heritage Hall, located at 414 Warsaw Road. That seminar will be held from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

“Solar and wind are very popular and they’re good,” said Westerbeek, of other renewable energy projects, “but they don’t produce power all the time. Manure-to-energy projects produce power 24/7 and a new revenue stream for our farmers both here and Duplin County.”

Currently, manure management is a significant cost for farmers, he said.

“Renewable natural gas is going to allow them to invest in digesters and turn that manure — that major cost driver — into a revenue stream. Farmers can choose to invest or not to invest. We feel like the investment we’re offering is very attractive.”

Westerbeek didn’t disclose specific dollars and cents, but noted an “attractive return on investment that would return their money in a very reasonable amount of time.”

He didn’t divulge specific dollars and cents, but noted: “farmers are probably the best businessmen there are, so if it isn’t feasible, they just won’t do it.”

Through the project, methane emissions from hog farms would be captured and converted into clean renewable energy for residential home heating and power for local businesses. Projects were announced in North Carolina, Virginia and Utah, with the North Carolina projects to be established in Sampson and Duplin counties.

A pilot project is already in operation in Kenansville. Another local project will be located near the Duplin-Sampson line, south of Turkey. There are 17 farmers participating there, Westerbeek noted.

Using a technology known as anaerobic digestion, the projects will capture and process methane from large clusters of Smithfield’s company-owned and contract hog farms.

As part of the process, manure from hog barns would be transferred by underground pipe to an adjacent covered lagoon, known as an anaerobic digester. Naturally occurring bacteria within the digester breaks down the solids over the course of 6‐12 months, generating organic fertilizer and methane. That methane is then pumped to a central facility, where it is processed to meet standards as a renewable natural gas able to be distributed in the existing system.

“Gas from multiple farms is conveyed through gathering pipelines to a central facility, where that gas is converted to a renewable naturas gas by cleaning the impurities,” Westerbeek explained. “From there, it is injected into the existing natural gas transmission lines, where it can be used anywhere in our communities or anywhere in the country.”

Ryan Childress, manager of New Business Development at Dominion Energy, called it a “pretty simple process” by which 15 to 20 farmers would be linked by “very small, minimally-invasive, low-pressure gathering lines.”

Westerbeek said the goal is to get participating farms in clusters, so that they can ultimately utilized the same “gathering pipelines.”

Farmers would have to invest in a covered digester, while Smithfield and Dominion would pick up the tab on the gathering system, he said. Farmers who choose to be part of Align would be under 10-year contracts and be paid for the energy they produce.

Smithfield and Dominion are investing $250 million over the next decade toward the initiative.

“A large majority of these will be in North Carolina,” said Childress, noting more than half of that investment would likely be made in the southeastern part of the state. That is due to the large hog population, so Duplin and Sampson, top counties in that industry, would be a sizable target.

In addition to converting “manure-to-energy,” industry officials said the covered lagoon digesters mitigate potential issues associated with severe rain events such as hurricanes, preventing rain from entering the lagoon and protecting the environment from associated spills.

Align RNG is part of a nationwide expansion of Smithfield Renewables, projects designed to help Smithfield meet a goal of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions 25 percent by 2025. Dominion Energy, which has nearly 7.5 million customers in 18 states, has a goal to reduce carbon dioxide emissions 80 percent by 2050 and reduce methane emissions from its gas assets 50 percent by 2030.

Both companies pointed to Gov. Roy Cooper’s initiative to significantly lower greenhouse gas emissions in North Carolina over the next decade.

Capturing the methane from hog or dairy farms, landfills, wastewater treatment plants and food processing facilities keeps greenhouse gas from entering the atmosphere, industry officials said. Because it is so much more potent, reducing methane can have a more dramatic impact on the environment than other carbon reduction initiatives, they noted.

For more information, visit alignrng.com, www.smithfieldfoods.com and www.DominionEnergy.com.

Kraig Westerbeek, senior director of Smithfield Renewables and hog production environmental affairs, left, and Ryan Childress, manager of New Business Development at Dominion Energy, address county officials earlier this week.
https://www.clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/web1_align.jpgKraig Westerbeek, senior director of Smithfield Renewables and hog production environmental affairs, left, and Ryan Childress, manager of New Business Development at Dominion Energy, address county officials earlier this week. Chris Berendt|Sampson Independent

An aerial look at an anaerobic digester in Kenansville, essentially a covered hog lagoon, where hog waste is broken down and methane produced, which can be processed into a renewable natural gas that can be utilized as a power source.
https://www.clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/web1_align-3-1.jpgAn aerial look at an anaerobic digester in Kenansville, essentially a covered hog lagoon, where hog waste is broken down and methane produced, which can be processed into a renewable natural gas that can be utilized as a power source. Courtesy photo|AlignRNG
Intro to manure-to-energy venture on tap

By Chris Berendt

[email protected]

Learn about Align

WHAT: Smithfield Foods Inc. and Dominion Energy will host an event to mark the groundbreaking of Align Renewable Natural Gas, a joint venture between the two companies that will have projects in Sampson and Duplin, transforming manure from hog farms into renewable energy to heat homes and power local businesses

WHO: Representatives from Smithfield and Dominion Energy will join local farmers as well as other community and civic leaders to share information about the project

WHEN: From 5:30-7:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 15

WHERE: Sampson County Agri-Expo Center, Heritage Hall, 414 Warsaw Road, Clinton

Editor Chris Berendt can be reached at 910-592-8137 ext. 2587.