WILKESBORO, N.C. -- Just one month after the grand opening of the Fibrominn turkey litter power plant in Benson, parent company Fibrowatt LLC confirmed last week that a similar chicken litter power plant will be constructed in North Carolina.
Fibrominn is a subsidiary of Fibrowatt LLC, which has headquarters in Newton, Pa.
According to the Winston-Salem Journal, the North Carolina plant will cost about $150 million and produce 40 to 50 megawatts a year from burned chicken litter.
The proposed plant could be producing electricity by 2010 or 2011, Fibrowatt Chief Executive Rupert Fraser told the Winston-Salem Journal.
The Fibrominn plant in Benson was designed to burn 500,000 tons of turkey litter per year to generate 55 kilowatts of electricity, enough to power 40,000 homes. The plant has a 21-year contract to sell its energy to Xcel Energy. Fibrominn's Benson plant was the first turkey litter power plant created in the United States.
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According to Fibrowatt's Web site, Fibrominn's United Kingdom-based partner built the world's first three poultry litter-fueled power plants. Fibrominn has two other poultry litter power plants developing in Maryland and Mississippi, and plans to expand into North Carolina and Arkansas.
