CenterPoint Energy invests in RNG made from Minnesota food waste

CenterPoint Energy, Houston, has signed an agreement with Shakopee, Minnesota-based Dem-Con HZI Bioenergy LLC (DCHZI) to purchase renewable natural gas (RNG) created from food waste produced in Minnesota’s Twin Cities metropolitan area.

According to CenterPoint, the RNG is expected to connect to its distribution system in Shakopee, Minnesota, in 2027 and provide customers with renewable energy for their homes and businesses.

“At CenterPoint, we’re excited to invest in innovative efforts such as DCHZI’s renewable natural gas production facility to help meet the energy needs of our customers and communities,” says Brad Steber, vice president of Minnesota gas at CenterPoint. “Adding locally produced renewable natural gas to our system can provide our customers with a lower carbon energy source that will continue to provide them with the safe, reliable service they expect from us. We support the growth of the RNG industry to strengthen regional economies and help meet the energy needs of our state.” 

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RNG can be developed by recycling organic waste from farms, food scraps, wastewater treatment facilities, yard clippings and other localized methane sources that would typically vent to the atmosphere to produce pipeline-quality gas that can be used in place of conventional natural gas.

DCHZI’s facility in Shakopee is expected to be in service in 2027 and will produce the RNG from local waste products collected from Twin Cities metro residents in an oxygen-free tank, through a process known as anaerobic digestion.

“The DCHZI facility supplied and operated by Kanadevia Inova [formerly Hitachi Zosen Inova] will be a first-of-its-kind in the country to combine an anaerobic digestion and gasification process to produce RNG and biochar from organic waste,” Dem-Con President Bill Keegan says. “Annually, the facility is expected to process 75,000 tons of organic waste, producing enough pipeline-quality RNG to fuel 2,500 Minnesota homes while reducing greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 30,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalents per year.”

Purchasing RNG from DCHZI is part of CenterPoint’s five-year innovation plan submitted under Minnesota’s Natural Gas Innovation Act (NGIA). The NGIA enables natural gas utilities to invest in renewable energy resources and innovative technologies to help reduce Minnesota's greenhouse gas emissions.