by jboullion | Jun 2, 2010 | Uncategorized
From a news release issued by WPS:
Green Bay, WI – Wisconsin Public Service Corporation (WPS) recently received approval from the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin to begin a pilot program to purchase electricity generated from agricultural biogas. In the pilot program, WPS will accept up to 10,000 kilowatts generated from new anaerobic digester operations (no more than 2,000 kilowatts from a single generator) within its service territory. The rate will encourage the development of this renewable resource which will allow WPS to better understand the costs and benefits associated with this type of power purchase, and at the same time provide environmental benefits.
Farmers interested in the program must sign a contract with WPS prior to January 1, 2013.
“Increasing the number of renewable resources is unquestionably good for the environment,” said Dennis Derricks, WPS Director of Electric Regulatory Policy. “This tariff is another way to partner with our agricultural customers to find solutions the benefit both parties.” Digesters help the farmers with solutions to dealing with vast amounts of waste, while the utility receives another source of renewable energy.
Derricks said WPS has several current digester operations within its territory and this new rate offers “another pricing option specifically for these types of operations.” Derricks said the existing contracts were fitted under tariffs not specifically designed for this application.
Farm digester operations sell power to the utility and then buy back what they need at regular rates for farm use.
The new rate is called PG-BioGas, is offered until December 31, 2012 (or until fully subscribed: 10 MW) and is in effect now. The maximum project cap is 2 MW, with an on-peak rate of approx. $0.106/kWh, an off-peak rate of approx. $0.061/kWh, which yields an effective (24 hour) rate of $0.0807/kWh. All environmental attributes from generation purchased under this rate will be claimed by WPS.
by jboullion | May 26, 2010 | Uncategorized
From a news release posted on Sys-Con Media:
LADYSMITH, WI — (Marketwire) — 05/26/10 — Indeck Ladysmith, LLC, the owner and operator of the Indeck Ladysmith BioFuel Center in Ladysmith, Wisconsin is moving forward in a partnership with Fuels for Schools and Communities, a program supported by the state of Wisconsin that encourages the use of wood biomass as an energy source for the heating of public buildings.
Representatives from Indeck Ladysmith have met with 11 local schools to discuss the possibility of replacing natural gas boilers used for heating with wood pellet boilers. Able to heat just as efficiently as conventional boilers, new wood pellet boilers would support the local biomass industry of Wisconsin while ultimately providing schools with some cost-savings.
“Focus on Energy, a government funded program here in Wisconsin, has been able to provide us with pre-feasibility studies at many of these local school districts,” said Mike Curci, Indeck Ladysmith BioFuel Center superintendant. “They are working with us to determine if replacing older natural gas boilers with updated wood pellet boilers is possible at a reduced upfront cost.”
by jboullion | May 25, 2010 | Uncategorized
From a blog post by Tom Content in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Xcel Energy Corp. is rethinking its plans to build the largest biomass power plant in the Midwest after the projected cost rose by one-third.
The power company, which has a Wisconsin utility based in Eau Claire, was planning to build a biomass gasifier that would replace an existing coal-fired power plant on the shore of Lake Superior in Ashland.
The company initially pegged the project at $58.1 million, but after more work it was determined that it would cost $79.5 million – an increase of nearly 37%.
The company will assess whether to use a different technology to burn wood at the power plant, said Don Reck, Xcel director of regulatory and government affairs.
Costs rose during a more detailed engineering review that concluded more work would be needed to retrofit the coal boiler to gasify biomass than the company and its consultants first concluded.
“We’re looking at all the options that we had included in the application, as well as at least one or two new ones that have surfaced since the application was filed,” Reck said.
The Wisconsin Paper Council and Citizens’ Utility Board expressed concern about the escalating price tag.
“This project was sort of a mixed bag for us,” said Charlie Higley, executive director of the Wisconsin Citizens’ Utility Board. “We want to see alternative projects developed using alternative fuels, but this project definitely raised some concerns regarding costs and feasibility.”
Xcel’s analysis follows a recent meeting of the Public Service Commission at which commissioners expressed concern about the cost of the project and said that in light of the rising price the agency would likely need to take a second look at whether to allow the development to proceed.
The PSC had attached a condition requiring the utility to come back if the cost of the project went above a commission cap of $63.9 million, or 10% higher than the utility’s projection.
by jboullion | May 24, 2010 | Uncategorized
From an editorial in the Wausau Daily Herald:
The group of citizens who are working to stop a proposed biomass plant near the Domtar paper mill in Rothschild have been working to cast doubt on virtually all of the claims made about the project — environmental claims, economic claims and so on.
Of their concerns, the questions around the plant’s environmental impact are the most serious, because the air emissions have the potential to do the most harm.
Domtar and We Energies have answered them in some detail, and we have no reason to doubt their analysis of the plant’s impact. Still, there’s no getting around the fact that those companies have an economic incentive to spin the facts in a way that is most beneficial to their project.
That’s why we all would benefit from an environmental impact statement on the project by the state and federal governments. It would provide a solid and independent expert analysis of the project.
The regulations governing these projects are arcane, but the essence of the argument is easy to understand: The state Public Service Commission, sometimes in conjunction with the Department of Natural Resources and federal agencies, has the capacity to prepare an independent assessment of the real environmental effects of the proposed project. This includes the impact of emissions, noise and other factors.
By statute, that analysis is automatically triggered for any power plant generating 100 megawatts or more. The proposed biomass plant will generate 50 megawatts, so an environmental impact statement is not required.
That doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be completed. Fifty megawatts of electricity still is a major power plant. An environmental impact statement would add an important expert perspective to the local discussion about the plant. This is a big project, and a relatively new technology. It bears scrutiny.
by jboullion | May 3, 2010 | Uncategorized
From a Community Conversation column by Bob Cleaves, president of the Biomass Power Association, in the Sheboygan Press:
Wisconsin is in the midst of a serious debate about the environmental impact of biomass power, and whether increasing their use of clean, renewable biomass for electricity could potentially lead to unintended negative consequences, specifically with respect to forest health and greenhouse gas emissions. The truth, however, is that increasing our use of biomass power will improve forest health in Wisconsin and reduce the amount of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere.
Biomass power is carbon neutral electricity generated from renewable organic waste that would otherwise be dumped in landfills, openly burned or left as fodder for forest fires.
On average, America’s biomass power industry removes 68.8 million tons of forest waste annually, improving forest health and dramatically reducing the threat of forest fires. This forest waste includes dead debris and brush left to rot on the forest floor. Clearing this debris is a part of regular forest maintenance and is frequently done by state forest services in the form of open burns.
By using this waste to generate electricity, the biomass power industry is preventing the need for open burns and significantly reducing the risk and spread of forest fires. Waste byproducts from other industries and organic waste from the forest floor continue to be the only economically viable fuel sources for biomass power.
Fuel providers to the biomass power industry do not harvest wood solely for the purpose of generating electricity — forests are simply far too valuable.
