Clemens Food Group is partnering with Convergent Energy and Power, a provider of energy storage solutions to install an energy storage system, expected to stabilize Clemens’ energy costs at its Hatfield, Pennsylvania, facility, and provide insulation against PJM’s rising capacity costs. 

Convergent will finance, own and operate the 14.5MW / 29MWh industrial-scale battery energy storage system, leveraging proprietary energy storage intelligence to maximize value. The system is projected to come online in 2026.

PJM, the market operator for the Mid-Atlantic, announced increased capacity charges for businesses like Clemens, which are expected to rise significantly year-over-year starting in June. Convergent will charge and discharge its battery storage system for Clemens at strategic times, storing energy when it is cheapest and discharging energy to displace reliance on the electric grid during the most expensive times. 

As a result, Clemens will be able to reduce its energy costs and hedge against future volatility in energy pricing.

“We are proud to partner with Clemens Food Group, a family-owned, local business to help reduce their energy costs and their product cost to consumers,” said Johannes Rittershausen, CEO, Convergent Energy and Power. “Convergent has a nearly 15-year track record of financing, owning, and operating energy storage systems on behalf of our customers to reduce costs, while improving the resilience and sustainability of the electric grid.”

The Pennsylvania plant is an expansion project with 308,000 square feet of combined production space for smoked meat, including bone-in hams, boneless hams, lunch-styled meat, bologna and more, with additional lines for foodservice bacon and fully cooked sausage. Gray was selected to provide a variety of design, construction and engineering services for the project on a 32-acre plot.

The plant was honored by our sister publication, FOOD ENGINEERING, as its Plant of the Year. 

About Clemens Food Group
Founded in 1895, Clemens Food Group is a sixth-generation, family-owned vertically coordinated pork production operation, with sister organizations that include feed milling, farming, processing, transportation and logistics. As one of the largest pork processing companies in the U.S., Clemens Food Group focuses on supplying the highest quality products to our partners via a responsive and sustainable system, while also providing advanced solutions that simplify our partners’ operations. Founded on the family values of ethics, integrity and stewardship, Clemens Food Group is deeply committed to animal care, our team members and the communities in which we operate.