by jboullion | Nov 30, 2010 | Uncategorized
From an article by Tom Content in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Xcel Energy Inc. on Monday halted plans to build a biomass power plant on Lake Superior in Ashland.
The utility holding company’s Eau Claire-based utility informed the state Public Service Commission of its decision in a letter Monday.
Xcel had planned to build a biomass gasification plant that would have made the Ashland power plant the largest wood-burning power plant in the Midwest.
The decision came as a result of a significant increase in the cost of the project, as well as declining costs for other generation options. The utility also cited “considerable regulatory uncertainty at the state and federal level.”
The announcement was made one day before the start of Public Service Commission hearings on a separate biomass power plant, proposed by Milwaukee-based We Energies to be built at the Domtar paper mill in Rothschild.
The timing of the announcement was coincidental and not linked to the We Energies proposal, said David Donovan, Xcel manager of regulatory policy.
“Although we are disappointed with the outcome, we have gained considerable value from the evaluation that we have completed,” said Mike Swenson, president and chief executive of NSP-Wisconsin, a unit of Xcel Energy, in a statement.
“The engineering studies will advance gasifier technologies for utility applications and our efforts to procure sustainable biomass supplies have resulted in a model that can be adopted in future projects,” Swenson said. “In addition, as part of this project we helped fund the development of two biomass energy plantations in northern Wisconsin, which will provide valuable research and study opportunities for decades to come.”
Those plantations are testing the development of hybrid poplar and black willow trees for harvesting and burning at the power plant.
by jboullion | Nov 22, 2010 | Uncategorized
From a news release issued by the Public Service Commission:
MADISON — The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (Commission) will hold public hearings in Rothschild on Wisconsin Electric Power Company’s (WEPCO, doing business as We Energies) application to construct a Biomass-Fired, Cogeneration Facility in the village of Rothschild, Marathon County, Wisconsin. The public hearings will be held Tuesday, November 30, 2010, at 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Hotel and Suites, Crystal 1 Room at 1000 Imperial Avenue in Rothschild. Administrative Law Judge Michael Newmark will preside over the hearings.
We Energies filed an application with the Commission on March 10, 2010 for approval to build and operate a 50 megawatt, Biomass-Fired, Cogeneration Facility in the Village of Rothschild.
Prior to acting on the application, the Commission will seek and consider public comments.
Public comments offered at the public hearings on the proposed biomass plant will be included in the record the Commission will review to make a decision. Attendees at each hearing will be able to provide testimony to the Administrative Law Judge presiding at the hearing. Citizens are encouraged to attend. If you cannot attend the public hearings, but would like to provide comments, you can do so on the PSC’s website through November 30, 2010. Click on the Public Comments button on the PSC’s homepage and click on the case title.
by jboullion | Oct 26, 2010 | Uncategorized
From an article by Tom Content in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Efforts to add more renewable energy in Wisconsin from burning wood waste moved ahead Monday with the completion of one biomass power plant and the start of construction on another.
A 40-megawatt biomass power plant has opened in southwestern Wisconsin.
The power plant, the E.J. Stoneman Station in Cassville, is producing electricity by burning wood waste including residue from forestry and tree trimming work as well as railroad ties, demolition waste and sawdust.
Ann Arbor, Mich.-based DTE Energy Service Inc. owns and operates the plant and sells the power to Dairyland Power Cooperative of La Crosse.
“DTE Energy Services is proud to be able to give the Stoneman plant new life as a generator of renewable energy,” David Ruud, president of DTE Energy Services, said in a statement. “We also are pleased that the plant will provide employment for 32 members of the Cassville community and support the local economy through our relationships with fuel suppliers and other local businesses.”
Dairyland built the former coal-fired power plant in 1951 and operated it for more than 40 years.
“We are pleased to see this major renewable energy resource come online for our cooperative membership,” said Dale Pohlman, Dairyland vice president of strategic planning. “Our ‘green’ partnership with DTE Energy Services will supply the energy needs to power 28,000 homes across our system by utilizing a natural resource – wood waste – as fuel.”
by jboullion | Oct 25, 2010 | Uncategorized
From a news release issued by Governor Doyle:
MADISON – Governor Jim Doyle today broke ground on the Charter Street Biomass Heating Plant project. The $251 million project is one of the largest biomass projects in the nation and will create construction and clean energy jobs. The project follows Governor Doyle’s 2008 announcement that Wisconsin would stop burning coal at state-owned heating plants on Madison’s Isthmus.
“In 2008, I announced plans to stop burning coal at state-owned heating plants on Madison’s Isthmus,” Governor Doyle said. “Today, we are breaking ground on the Charter Street biomass plant and taking a major step forward to make this goal a reality. The Charter Street plant will turn a waste stream into clean energy, it will keep energy dollars in our communities, and it will help clean our air and water. This project will create great jobs in Wisconsin and will develop a new biomass market from our great fields and farms.”
The Governor’s 2009-2011 capital budget included $251 million for the Charter Street project and $25 million to convert the Capitol Heat and Power Plant to natural gas. The Charter Street plant will support local biomass providers and eliminate over 108,000 tons of coal burned every year. In March, the state stopped burning coal at the Capitol Heat and Power Plant – eliminating 4,500 tons of coal burned by the state each year. When the Charter Street project is completed in 2013, the Doyle Administration will have reduced State of Wisconsin coal use by 65 percent.
The Charter Street project is a joint effort between AMEC and Boldt Construction. The plant’s coal boilers will first be replaced by natural gas and biomass fuel. The plant will run completely on biomass by late 2013, with the capacity to burn wood chips, corn stalks and switch grass pellets and power 300 local buildings.
by jboullion | Sep 24, 2010 | Uncategorized
From a story by Heather Sawaski on WAOW-TV, Wausau:
PARK FALLS (WAOW) — Flambeau River Papers in Park Falls is going to get a little greener.
Company leaders say when the new biomass plant is complete, the mill will use all of its waste energy, making it the first mill in North America not to use any fossil fuels. That’s a far cry from where the future of the paper mill stood just over 4 years ago. That’s when CEO Butch Johnson bought it out of bankruptcy. That’s when the idea of a biomass refinery in the Northwoods started to take shape.
“We’re no smarter than the guys before us that went bankrupt,” Johnson explained. “What can we do differently with our operation so we can ensure our employees, our partners in our project that we’re going to keep going? So we looked at a green initiative from the get go.”
The $300 will convert biomass from bark and sawdust into diesel for domestic markets.
Johnson says between logging, construction, and operation, the plant will bring in hundreds of jobs.
“We buy currently about 140,000 cords of wood for this paper mill,” he said. “With the bio-refinery, we would be buying an additional 365,000 cords of wood.”
