Sioux Center, Iowa — Could cow manure provide at least part of the natural gas that the City of Sioux Center needs? If a proposed project becomes a reality, the answer could be “yes.”
City of Sioux Center officials tell us that several Sioux County dairies are working on a plan to produce renewable natural gas (RNG) with the construction of methane digesters. The company producing this natural gas, West Branch RNG, would like to connect it to Sioux Center’s natural gas distribution system to inject and sell the gas to Sioux Center.
Sioux Center Assistant Utilities Manager Adam Fedders says that locally-produced renewable natural gas would be a great way for the city to partner with the county and the ag community. He says, “As energy independence becomes more important and we are thinking more about where our energy comes from, to have a renewable source locally produced in Sioux County will be beneficial.”
In the proposed project, Sioux Center would construct the 8-mile natural gas line to connect the digester to the community’s system, and West Branch RNG would then pay for this connection. They tell us the proposed line would run from near the intersection of 7th Street and 13th Avenue NW (or Grant Avenue in the rural area) along Grant Avenue south to 470th Street near Maurice, at Hoogland Dairy. A branch line is proposed to Maassen Dairy too, which is east of Maurice.
Sioux Center officials tell us that before injecting gas into the system, the natural gas would be scrubbed and monitored to ensure the quality meets the same standards as Northern Natural Gas, which currently transports natural gas to Sioux Center. West Branch RNG could supply up to 300 million BTU of natural gas a day, which is roughly a third of what Sioux Center uses on an average summer day. Winter usage is much higher.
They say the proposed project could be completed as soon as the summer of 2023 and requires approvals from several entities including the Sioux County Board of Supervisors and the Iowa Utilities Board.
