We’ve spent a lot of time over the past several months writing about the importance of diverting food waste from the regular waste stream. What we haven’t talked about as much is our work to secure a contract to expand the Exeter Agri-Energy (EAE) facility, BEP’s flagship project in Exeter, Maine.

In addition to BEP’s continuing role with EAE as business and operations manager, our real expertise is our ability to develop projects, in this case, the expansion of the EAE facility. It was clear early on in EAE’s life that expansion was on the horizon and after significant legwork by BEP starting in the fall of 2012, the Maine Public Utilities Commission awarded EAE a contract to expand the facility from 1MW to 3MW. The expansion will include the construction of two additional digestion vessels as well as two additional engines. This is big news and simply would not have happened without the knowledge and persistence that BEP brings to the table.

So how does this relate to the food waste conversation we’ve been having for the past year or so? More capacity means EAE needs more waste, plain and simple. EAE currently processes approximately 8,000-10,000 gal/day of off-farm, organic waste (35-45 tons/day; 15,000-18,000 tons/yr) – the expansion will quadruple EAE’s off-farm waste capacity.

One final question: Got Organic Waste?

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