Poop power: Town of Holland would be site of plant

Posted at 13:30 on September 15, 2017

The Brillion News

MADISON – The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSCW) approved a conditional $15 million Focus on Energy grant to BC Organics, LLC for an innovative bioenergy system in Brown County.

It would be built in the Town of Holland, on the south side of Mill Road, west of Old 57 Road and the Wiese Brothers Farm. The land  there is owned by Brown County and is targeted to become the next landfill to accept solid waste from Brown, Outagamie and Calumet counties.

The system will produce renewable natural gas from dairy farm manure and other waste. The project will reduce the need to land spread raw manure, protect sensitive groundwater and surface waters in northeastern Wisconsin, and provide positive economic benefits to participating farms.

At the direction of Governor Walker, the PSC, Department of Natural Resources, and the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection collaborated to develop a request for proposals (RFP) on innovative anaerobic digester systems that could produce renewable energy, remove nutrients from manure, protect water quality, and reduce pathogens.

BC Organics was recommended unanimously by the evaluation team comprised of expert staff from the PSC, DNR, DATCP, UW-Madison and Focus on Energy.

BC Organics must obtain all of the necessary state and local regulatory approvals before construction may begin and includes an odor control plan designed to minimize impacts to neighboring landowners. The consortium consists of 24 members led by Wisconsin based Dynamic Concepts (Waukesha), along with WEC Energy Group (Milwaukee), US Biogas LLC (Plymouth), and BioStar Organics, among other Wisconsin based firms.

The project’s proposed location is northeast of Holland, near Green Bay, is co-located with a proposed landfill owned by Brown County. It has commitments from nine Wisconsin farms with over 22,000 animal units, with the capability to expand to include additional farms in the future.

The facility is expected to begin operations by January 1, 2019. The project will employee up to 20 full-time employees.

The project involves the construction of multiple anaerobic digesters with capability to produce renewable natural gas (RNG) from manure and food waste, and eventually landfill gas.

The estimated energy output of 5.7 million therms is equivalent to the home heating needs for 7,600 Wisconsin homes. The RNG will be injected into the interstate natural gas pipeline system for use as a heating and transportation fuel.

A complete story on this project will appear in the September 21 print edition of THE BRILLION NEWS.