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Digesters for Managing Animal Waste Workshop

Digesters for Managing Animal Waste Workshop. August 21, 2002 Bill Johnson, Alliant Energy . Alliant Energy. We serve approximately 53,000 ag customers in a four-state territory.

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Digesters for Managing Animal Waste Workshop

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  1. Digesters for Managing Animal WasteWorkshop August 21, 2002 Bill Johnson, Alliant Energy

  2. Alliant Energy • We serve approximately 53,000 ag customers in a four-state territory. • Alliant Energy Resources, Inc., our non-utility business, has operations in Australia, Brazil, China, Mexico and New Zealand • 6,000 employees in U.S. and internationally

  3. Generation diversity • Coal • Natural Gas • Renewable energy sources • Distributed resources == Reliability

  4. Why Alliant Energy ? • 53,000 farm accounts, large rural utility • Believe in removing economic barriers • Rural economic development • Believe in distributive generation • Strong environmental ethic • Tradition of working with the development of ag. energy technologies

  5. Food processing industry environmental challenge

  6. Seneca Bio-digesterMontgomery, Minn.

  7. Alliant Energy’s - Wisconsin Biogas Project • 10 MW generation • Farm, food processor, landfill & sewage treatment sources • 3-year project • 5-year contracts • 6 cent/kWh (customer owned)

  8. 10 Megawatts ? • 50,000 tons of coal each year • 500 coal cars • 5 unit trains • Electricity for 11,000 homes

  9. Pilot Project Objectives • Access digester technologies • Access generation technologies • Remove technology barriers • Evaluate utility barriers • Access market potential • Increase demand for “green energy”

  10. Deere Ridge Farm, Anaerobic Digester, Amherst, Wis.

  11. Double S Dairy, Alto, WI • Flush system • Plug flow • Hess gen-set • Separated solids for bedding and sale

  12. Topdeck HolsteinsWestgate, IA

  13. Microturbine

  14. Engine Monitoring and Switchgear

  15. Reciprocating Engine

  16. Heat Recovery System • Utilize heat from exhaust of engine or microturbine • Heat digester • Heat buildings • Heat hot water heater • Heat anything else that needs hot water • Refrigeration

  17. Biomass Lessons Challenges and Opportunities

  18. Lessons Learned • Digester designs • Corrosion • Pre-heating costs • Soft vs. hard top • Local labor and skills • Gen-set O&M costs • Dewatering • Customer expectations • Bedding requirements • Niche market opportunities • BUYER BEWARE, DO YOUR HOMEWORK!

  19. Barriers to Development of Renewable Energy Technology • Technology must be solution for the customer and add value to their business • High-risk technologies for customer and utility investment • Utilities have an obligation to energy cost and reliability • Few dominant companies, largely a cottage industry, except for wind

  20. Economic Barriers • Utilities must satisfy many stakeholders: customers, shareowners, regulators, interest groups • Must weigh “price is everything” vs. “environment is everything,” must blend needs • Marketplace drives price, there must be greater demand • Risk management, need rewards for investment risks

  21. Social – Political Barriers • NIMBY’ism • “big is bad” attitudes • Should societal benefits be paid for by society or by utility owners and their customers? • Many political uncertainties…DOE, USDA, EPA, State/Local Regulations…

  22. Institutional Barriers • Uniform interconnection standards across utility and state jurisdictions • Net metering • Insurance requirements • Some utilities charge high access and/or interconnection fees • Lack of renewable energy credits • Difficulty with customer aggregation

  23. Market Barriers • Dependency on local utility • Access to transmission system can be expensive and complex • Limited “green power” program participation • Smaller generators have market disadvantages • Risk, purchasing power from inexperienced energy provider

  24. Biomass Project Success Requires • Favorable power purchase agreements • Partnership development • Predictable cash flow • Market for secondary products • Tradable “green qualities” • Incentives de-coupled from cost of fossil fuels • Access to financing

  25. Opportunities • Utilities and customers partnering in addressing environmental and energy challenges • Monies from commodity purchase stays in local communities • May allow delaying or avoidance of utility infrastructure investment • Convert environmental liability into economic assets r

  26. Public Policy • “…We have only scratched the surface of developing farm-based sources of renewable energy—ethanol, biodiesel, biomass, wind, methane, hydrogen. Agriculture is not just about food and fiber. Anything we can produce from a barrel of oil, we can also produce on our farms.” -- Sen. Tom Harkin, IA, Senate Agriculture Committee, June 28, 2001

  27. Philosophies “Be a price maker not a price taker.” --Loren Kruse “Grow what you can sell, don’t sell what you can grow.” --Duane Acker

  28. William A. Johnson Manager, Agriculture Customer Services Alliant Energy 2777 Columbia Dr. Portage, WI 53901 (608) 742-0824 billjohnson@alliantenergy.com

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