Duke Energy announced it has renewed a contract with a New Bern biomass producer that provides renewable energy to the Craven County area.
Craven County Wood Energy had already been selling the power it produces to Duke Energy over the past 15 years, plant manager Bob Van Ells said. The contract had expired, he said, and a new 10-year contract has been negotiated and signed.
CCWE is a 24-hour-a-day baseload plant that provides enough power annually to satisfy the energy needs of more than 30,000 homes for a year, according to Duke.
According to Van Ellis, “Everyone in Craven County that turns on their electricity is receiving renewable energy (from us),” although “We’re just a small percentage of the Duke footprint.”
CCWE employs 30 people directly and supports 150 other jobs, Van Ells said. The plant purchases wood waste from loggers, truckers and other businesses within an 80-mile radius of its facilities. It also purchases the waste from Butterball-owned turkey farms within the same distance.
From 10 to 25 percent of its energy is created from the turkey waste, and the company plans to increase that to as much as 30 percent in the future, which is important to Duke Energy. The Charlotte-based energy producer that serves 7.5 million customers in six states is required by North Carolina’s Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standards to eventually meet 0.21 percent of its overall power sales with energy generated by swine and poultry waste.
North Carolina is the nation’s second largest poultry producer, making the recycling of the birds’ waste products of vital interest to the area.