Duke Energy Signs Swine Waste Power Deal with Optima KV
Charlotte, NC-based diversified energy company, Duke Energy Corporation DUK inked a swine waste-to-power deal with Wilmington-based Optima KV LLC, close on the heels of its partnership with Carbon Cycle Energy to use captured methane gas from swine waste to generate renewable electricity.
Delving Deeper
The swine waste-to-power project will generate carbon-neutral renewable electricity from captured methane gas at two power stations owned by Duke Energy. At the farms, Optima KV will build a digester, which will transmit the captured methane gas to a centralized facility. The facility will clean the captured gas as perpipeline quality specifications before injecting it into the natural gas pipeline system.
The project will be located in Duplin County —the heart of Smithfield Foods’ pork operations. It is expected to begin commercial operations by next summer.
This 15-year deal is projected to capture and convert enough methane gas to power about 880 homes through a year.
Renewable energy is gradually transforming the way energy is being produced and consumed, it is a part of energy production transition towards emission less generation. With regulatory authorities encouraging renewable energy generation, dependence on fossil fuels is gradually declining.
A U.S. Energy Information Administration report projects electricity generation from renewable sources to increase 11.3% in 2016 and 4.4% in 2017. Other than hydropower, generation from renewables is forecasted to grow 13.3% in 2016 and 8.6% in 2017.
Zacks Rank & Key Picks
Duke Energy currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Some better-ranked stocks in the same space include Spark Energy, Inc. SPKE, Avangrid, Inc. AGR and Avista Corp. AVA. While both Spark Energy and Avangrid sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Avista Corp. holds a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
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