Farm-Scape, Episode 1560

A newly commissioned renewable energy and organic fertilizer production plant in Saskatchewan is now generating a consistent supply of electrical power.

Clear-Green Environmental has completed the commissioning of its new Cudworth Saskatchewan biogas production plant.

The plant, built adjacent to a 12 hundred sow farrow to Finnish swine barn uses anaerobic digesters to concert manure into biogas, a mix of methane and carbon dioxide.

The methane, which is being sold to Sask Power, is being burned in micro turbines to generate electricity.

Clear-Green Sales and Marketing Vice-President Clay Sparks says the facility is now producing a consistent quality biogas.

"We've been producing gas for a number of months now at the quality and quantity where we needed to get it.

Over the past few months we have been going through a commissioning phase of getting some sulfur out of the gas, removing some H2S from the gas, getting it to a certain point where the turbines are able to accept that gas.

Around the end of June, the date was actually June 22nd, was the first time that we fired the microturbines and it took a couple of weeks after that to get everything to the point where we could have the micro turbines operating full time.

The quality of the gas ranges from around 60 to 70 percent methane which is right in where we wanted it to be and our sulfur levels in the gas are consistently remaining at low levels where we need those to be as well so that we don't have issues with the turbines."

Sparks estimates the facility is capable of generating enough electricity to supply the power needs of 40 to 50 homes.

For Farmscape.Ca, I'm Bruce Cochrane.