ELLSWORTH – A Danish renewable natural gas company is proposing to build a contained anaerobic digester and nutrient recovery facility in Ellsworth near the East End Industrial Park on 25 acres owned by Ellsworth Cooperative Creamery.

The biogas company, named Bigadan, has more than 40 years of experience and offers engineering and construction services to biogas plants, along with specializing in renewable energy production, manure and organic waste treatment and nutrient recycling. It operates a digester in Ohio for Campbell’s Soup.

Ellsworth Cooperative Creamery CEO Paul Bauer could barely contain his excitement about the benefits Bigadan could bring to the village, county and region. He called the estimated half-billion-dollar economic impact “a game-changer” that not only reduces the environmental footprints of area farms but will help grow the community.

“This opens the door to other opportunities that we don’t even know exist today,” Bauer said.

The project is expected to invest $190 million in the community in five years and create 37 jobs in trucking and at the plant. Since the digester would be considered a utility and utilities are exempt from property taxes, the company is proposing to “voluntarily pay taxes on a yearly basis,” which is called “payment in lieu of taxes,” or PILOT. One hundred percent of that payment would go to the Village of Ellsworth, where with property taxes the revenue would be shared with the school district, county and Chippewa Valley Technical College. Bauer said the details are still being worked out.

“This PILOT would not be a one-time thing,” Bauer said. “One of our goals is to increase its (the village’s) tax base because it’s been fiscally constrained.”

Village President Becky Beissel said it’s exciting to see a world leader in renewable energy interested in Ellsworth.

“Their commitment to sustainable energy and the environment aligns with our comprehensive plan and values,” Beissel said. “This project has the potential to invigorate our community, attracting cutting-edge industries, creating high-quality jobs, fostering an environment of innovation and growth, and funding community needs/projects through an annual PILOT. What an exciting time for Ellsworth!”

The money injected into the community could provide more dollars toward village improvements such as sidewalks, signs, parks, infrastructure and more.

Bigadan owns and operates 10 biogas plants in Denmark. The digester will take in various waste streams, including animal waste from area farms and whey water from Ellsworth Cooperative Creamery and convert it into natural gas and CO2 byproducts, said Ellsworth Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Kim Beebe. Liquid and solid fertilizer can be redistributed to farms, reducing contamination concerns of raw manure being applied directly to fields.

“In addition, the technology will improve the air quality and provide a solution to the odors from the Creamery's current waste treatment process,” Beebe said. “Due to the location, the project will have minimal impact on infrastructure compared to other projects that would create a much larger impact to roads, current infrastructure, and other village services.”

Bauer said the digester is also a great fit with Pierce County’s/Ellsworth’s ag-centric economy and will support existing businesses.

Why Ellsworth?

Pierce County Economic Development Director Joe Folsom said Ray Davy, a consultant representing Bigadan, reached out to him to identify a potential location. Ellsworth is considered desirable because of its proximity to farms, the creamery, an existing natural gas pipeline, and UW-River Falls, home to one of the largest dairy science programs in the United States.

“Ellsworth is in a really unique position because you have all the elements to make this successful,” said Pierce Pepin Cooperative Services CEO Nate Boettcher. “Area, land, property, access, a farming community. When you start mixing all the ingredients together, there’s a real opportunity to make this successful.”

Emily Tweten, also a consultant representing Bigadan, grew up on a dairy farm in southeastern Minnesota. Last year she went to Denmark to research how large projects, like this one, work and how they could be adapted to projects here in the US.

“In Denmark, we saw seven different places to decide where you are going to throw your waste,” she said. “They are very environmentally aware and know the need to be sustainable and renewable, cognizant of our space, our planet, our water and our soil.”

Bigadan was founded by a dairy farmer in Denmark who still owns the company, she added.

Dean Doornink, who milks 1,500 cows and owns John-De Farms Inc. in St. Croix County, also works with Bigadan as a consultant. He said large regional projects like this proposal are better than building a digester on a farm. He said digesters are similar to wastewater treatment plants in that they need constant monitoring and adjustments. That’s tough to do on a farm that already has a chore list each day a mile long.

“The concept of a central digester works and it’s the only way a small dairy farm will be able to be involved in a digester project,” Doornink said. “It’s terribly expensive to build. If you don’t have 3,000 cows, we won’t entertain the concept.”

The dairy industry has set some major sustainability goals, Doornink said. Farms of all sizes will be forced to meet those goals. Bauer agreed, and said farms also need alternative ways to generate income, especially medium-to-small sized farms.

“Using your cow manure for income generation and cost regeneration is one way to stay viable in the ag industry,” Bauer said. “It will reach the entire county. Ag will be supported for the next generation for success. If we can pull this off, we can get every farm in the area on this program, which will generate capital investment in the community, increase the tax base, and generate power.”

Doornink said the natural gas produced by biogas plants will be the only way semis will be going up and down the road in the future, in his opinion. He doesn’t believe electric semis will exist.

How does it work?

Davy said natural gas is a fossil fuel that was created over millions of years underground. Biogas, or renewable natural gas, is a product that is made in 30 days instead of 30 million years.

“It has the same physical characteristics as natural gas,” Davy said. “You can take manure, waste from the creamery, put it in the digester and it makes the same product.”

Hudson and Menomonie’s wastewater treatment plants and the Ellsworth Cooperative Creamery’s Menomonie location have anaerobic digesters.

“They’re already in your backyard,” said Davy.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, anaerobic digestion is a process through which bacteria break down organic matter (animal and food waste, wastewater biosolids) in the absence of oxygen in a sealed vessel called a reactor. The reactors contain complex microbial communities that break down the waste and produce biogas and digestate (the solid and liquid material byproducts of the process).

“This is really a clear win for the community, not only because of the impacts indicated earlier, but from an environmental aspect it’s a real win,” said Folsom. “When we can reduce that non-point pollution when we can manage that waste from our livestock operating and application of nutrients to our crops. It’s a clear win from a water quality perspective. It will provide better application of nutrient to our crops.”

Bauer said the biogas portion will be injected into a high-pressure natural gas pipeline that already exists. The energy in biogas can be used to provide heat, electricity and power to cooling systems. It can also be purified by removing CO2 and water to generate renewable natural gas. Putting waste through the process will reduce nitrates in the solids that will be dried and sold as fertilizer by a factor of 3 when leaching into the soil, Bauer said.

“No product will enter the stream or wastewater plant,” Bauer said. “The odor will be controlled on the site. The creamery’s high strength waste will be pumped to the new digester.”

The digestion process would take place 24/7 in 12 tanks while deliveries would be made Monday through Saturday. Trucks would come in with waste and leave with digestate. Bauer said any farm in a 30-mile radius that wants to participate could. All farms would have to have a nutrient management plan in place, regardless of size.

Bauer estimates the number of trucks turning onto County Road C, where the plant would be accessed, would increase to 5-8 per hour, with at most 10 trucks making multiple trips per day. The facility would be located on 25 acres away from any residence behind Kaufhold’s Kurds and next to Western Wisconsin Ag Supply. The county has agreed to access on County Road C, which is close to US Highway 10. Pierce Pepin would build a power transformer station near the site.

Bauer dreams of using geo-thermal energy produced by the digester for energy-efficient housing developments, which would lessen the need for workforce housing in the region. The wastewater treatment plant could also be upgraded, he said.

Boettcher’s enthusiasm could be felt as well.
“We’ve talked a lot about economic development and this is one of the first real sizable projects that we’ve had in front of us,” Boettcher said. “I’m excited to see it come to fruition and the benefits that come with it.”

Next steps

The proposal will go before the Ellsworth Planning Commission at its July 20 meeting. The property will need to be rezoned from agricultural to industrial, which is in the village’s comprehensive plan. The project will also need a conditional use permit.

Depending on the Department of Natural Resources’ (DNR) approval, Doornink said, the hope is to obtain a special use permit from the village in August. The soonest a groundbreaking would occur is early spring 2024.

“This is what is coming,” Doornink said. “We will not have a market for our milk if we don’t do something along this line. It really does lead to the salvation of the smaller farms in the future. It’s already happening in the US. Nestle is requiring milk with a lower carbon footprint than most farms can produce.

“There will more digesters like this. The Inflationary Reduction Act is targeting these to be built. It’s the only way to reduce the carbon footprint of dairy farms.”