Duke University shuts down plans for campus power plant

Duke University has put plans for a power plant on campus on hold indefinitely and will focus on using methane from hog waste to power the school's growing energy needs, officials said Friday.

Posted 8:07 p.m. Apr 6, 2018 — Updated 8:07 p.m. Apr 6, 2018

Matthew Burns

, WRAL.com senior producer/politics editor

DURHAM, N.C. — Duke University has put plans for a power plant on campus on hold indefinitely and will focus on using methane from hog waste to power the school's growing energy needs, officials said Friday.

Duke agreed in 2016 to allow Duke Energy to build the 21-megawatt combined heat and power plant on a 1-acre site off Wallace Wade Boulevard. Officials said the co-generation plant, which would capture and reuse waste heat from power generation to produce steam for heat and hot water, was a more efficient source of power for the university’s buildings, including Duke University Medical Center and related clinics.

But the $55 million plant sparked opposition from people who said it was unneeded and would expand the use of natural gas obtained through the controversial process of "fracking." That prompted university officials to hold off on the plant to conduct more research and gather input from students, staff and the community.

"Duke has an aggressive goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2024 while ensuring that the energy demands of a growing, vibrant campus can be met," Executive Vice President Tallman Trask III said in a statement. "While [combined heat and power] technology creates much greater efficiencies for both the consumer and the producer, we also recognize that advances in technology provide a constantly changing range of options and deserve further study."

School administrators now want to use biogas instead of natural gas as the primary fuel source for the campus. The university is in discussions with potential suppliers.

Duke Energy last month began piping methane recovered from five Duplin County hog farms to a gas-fired power plant in Richmond County. The company spent years trying to find a method to purify the methane so it would burn more cleanly in its plants.

"We are committed to support and foster the development of a renewable biogas market in North Carolina that reduces reliance on fossil fuels and provides opportunities for positive community, environmental, economic and policy outcomes in the state," Trask said. "At the same time, we will continue to pursue energy efficiency, solar energy and other strategies to meet our climate goals."

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