A local renewable energy upstart received a major boost Thursday with a $500,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development program.

Farm Power Northwest LLC applied for the grant through the Renewable Energy Systems and Energy Efficiency Improvements program.

The $500,000 will help fund a digester, which will process manure from dairy farms in Skagit County. The digester will capture methane gas, burn it for energy and route the power onto the local electric grid.

Farm Power was among 639 recipients and was one of six to receive the highest grant of $500,000. Farm Power was the only Washington company to receive a grant.

Farm Power co-owner Daryl Maas said the grant allows the company to break ground on its site in Rexville this fall.

“This is what we’ve been hoping for,” Maas said. “We might have been able to pull this off without it, but we always hoped and assumed this would happen.”

Once the digester is built, Farm Power will take the millions of gallons of manure produced by Beaver Marsh Farms and other dairy farms, process it for methane, and return the remaining dried material to the farms. The dried material can be used in place of expensive sawdust that farmers spread in holding pens.

Once in operation, the digester will produce enough electricity to power 500 homes.

In addition to the grant, the USDA awarded Farm Power Northwest a $575,000 loan guarantee, which allows Farm Power to acquire loans to start up the facility.