July/August 2020

Expanding Sustainable Energy in the Delmarva Community

Our initiation into the renewable natural gas (RNG) market is on fast forward!

On July 7, 2020, just weeks after announcing our first RNG project with Bioenergy DevCo, we solidified another new partnership with CleanBay Renewables Inc. (CleanBay) that enables us to bring additional RNG to our Delaware and Maryland communities. CleanBay is an enviro-tech company focused on the production of sustainable renewable natural gas which will generate greenhouse gas credits associated with vehicular usage.

The RNG generated at CleanBay’s planned Westover, MD, bio-refinery will reach the market through the efforts of our three business units – Chesapeake Utilities, ESNG and Marlin Gas Services. Marlin Gas Services will transport RNG from the CleanBay facility to ESNG where it will be distributed to Chesapeake Utilities’ natural gas infrastructure and other end use customers in the Delmarva region, including low-carbon, renewable vehicle fuel customers.

CleanBay’s Westover, MD, facility is scaled to be large enough to process meaningful quantities of poultry litter and will include more than $200 million of capital investment by CleanBay. Site preparation is underway, and construction is scheduled to begin later this year.

“Utilizing the renewable natural gas derived from processing excess poultry industry organics in the Delmarva region and transforming that into a carbon-negative sustainable energy source supports our long-standing commitment to our customers and communities to invest in a resilient, environmentally-friendly and diverse energy supply,” said Jeff Householder, President and CEO. “This is a win-win for the region as farmers on the Delmarva Peninsula also need an economical way to dispose of agricultural waste, prevent runoff into local waters, and enrich the soil to increase future agricultural production.”

As we continue to move forward with regional expansion, CleanBay’s goal is to create a renewable natural gas ecosystem directly connected to Chesapeake Utilities’ infrastructure. These envisioned direct connection point investments by Chesapeake Utilities will provide the Delmarva community with access to sustainable RNG at the same time generating regional greenhouse gas reductions.

“Through this partnership, Chesapeake Utilities Corporation has an immediate and scalable opportunity to further impact climate change,” said Thomas Spangler, CleanBay Renewables’ Executive Chairman. “Our process to turn poultry litter into renewable natural gas is a sustainable, environmentally friendly way to both positively influence our region’s poultry ecosystem and reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions for end use customers including powering vehicle fleets with clean, green energy.”

Similar to additional planned CleanBay facilities, the Westover, MD, bio-refinery will recycle more than 150,000 tons of chicken litter annually. By repurposing a potential source of excess nutrients, CleanBay can generate 765,000 MMBTUs of sustainable RNG, the amount of energy used by approximately 10,000 homes.