Terryland Farms Biogas & Cogeneration
Owners		George and Linda Heinzle
Location		St. Eugene, Ontario
Herd size		140 dairy cows
Off-farm Substrates		FOG
Design
Digester Size	1 x 1000 m3 mesophilic digester
Feedstock Handling	1 x 50 m3 liquids receiving tanks
Development Time	2 years
Process Volume	30 tonnes/day
Retention Time	30 days hydraulic retention time (HRT)
Gas Volume	180 m3/ hr
Electrical Production	180 kW co-gen, expanded to 360 kW co-gen
Heat Utilization	Excess heat is used to heat barn, milking parlor, swimming pool
Background
Mr. Heinzle was motivated by a desire to expand his operations and broaden his income base, but also to protect the environment. He can be quoted as saying “it’s useless to have a big fat wallet if your kids can’t breathe the air or are always sick […].” Mr. Heinzle engaged in his project’s development process in 2005, at a time when the Province of Ontario was formulating and refining programmes to support the viability of anaerobic digesters. Thus the project was presented with the challenges of being the first to navigate the Renewable Energy Standard Offer Program (RESOP) in Ontario, as well as being the first to obtain a contract under the Ontario Feed-in Tariff (FiT) program. From Mr. Heinzle’s perspective, the greatest impediment associated with the project was obtaining the grid connection. The hurdle was presented by the utility and the requirement for a transfer trip protection system that would cost $250,000 and seemed cost prohibitive. Thanks to the collaborative efforts between CH Four, Natural Resources Canada and Dr. Aidan Foss, a cost-effective “relay system” was developed that not only proved to be 5 times faster to disconnect from the grid than was required by the utility, but also cost far less than the originally prescribed solution. The actual project development time from first contact to system start-up was 2 years; the system was completed and commissioned in 2008. Since then, Terryland Farms increased the co-gen from 180 kW continuous to 360 kW continuous of electrical production and has been able to take full advantage of the heat he produces: after heating his barn and milking parlor, there is enough excess heat to also heat the family swimming pool. Terryland Farms has been able to realize additional cost savings by using the liquid phase of the effluent as fertilizer and separating the solids from the digestate for bedding.

 

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Coming Soon...
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"Our digester system has been great for us over the years: 
It runs well and has really reduced odours.  As an additional plus, we
have realized great savings in our bedding and fertilizer expenses!"  
G. and  L. Heinzle (St. Eugene, ON)