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Oglethorpe Power To Build Biomass Facilities

September 19, 2008 | 2 Comments

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Georgia, United States [RenewableEnergyWorld.com] Oglethorpe Power Corporation (OPC) announced plans to build as many as three 100-megawatt (MW) biomass electric generating facilities in Georgia. Designed to utilize woody biomass, one of the state's most abundant renewable resources, the power plants will be carbon-neutral and provide power to OPC's 38 member cooperatives, which supply electricity to nearly half of Georgia's population.

"With our abundant biomass resources, Georgia has the unique opportunity to expand our use of alternative energy, grow our economy and transform the way we provide energy to our citizens."

-- Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue

OPC has secured options for five potential sites in Appling, Echols, Warren and Washington counties. The first two plants are scheduled to be built and placed into operation in 2014 and 2015. Which of the five sites will host the first plants is still to be determined. A third unit could also be completed and placed into service in 2015.

"With our abundant biomass resources, Georgia has the unique opportunity to expand our use of alternative energy, grow our economy and transform the way we provide energy to our citizens," said Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue. "Oglethorpe Power's pioneering investment in alternative energy is consistent with our goal to grow, convert, and use biomass energy to power our homes and businesses."

Capital investment in the biomass plants will range from US $400-500 million per facility, with each providing approximately 40 jobs. Each plant will require an annual investment of more than US $30 million for fuel stock alone and could create a need for hundreds of new jobs in the state's forestry industry. The power plants will be steam-electric generation stations using conventional fluidized bed boiler/steam turbine technology.

Fuel for the plants will consist of a woody biomass mixture, including processed roundwood (chipped pulpwood), primary manufacturing residue (wood waste from sawmills) and harvest residue (wood remaining in forests after clearing). The plants will be designed to allow for the co-firing of other types of biomass, such as pecan hulls and peanut shells.

Bioenergy

2 Reader Comments

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ian-smith-134136

September 24, 2008

There is no mention of cogen in this announcement. Biomass is a constrained resource. There is not enough sustainable supply to displace current fossil fuel use. Efficiency of straight biomass electricity generation is poor. The most effective way to exploit this resource is either to use it for cogen or to use it for heat only where efficiencies are high.

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2 of 2

robert-mida-153930

September 25, 2008

I fail to see how burning trees is carbon neutral. Yes, they gather most CO2 from the air, but also from the ground. When burned all sequestered carbon is released. And when burned other pollutants are released besides C02, of course you wouldn't hear about that in this press release.

So sure, you'll plant trees too, of course they will most certainly be monoculture tree plantations (eucalyptus is thirsty) and there is also a great chance the trees will be Genetically Modified (no way to contain contamination of native forestry). Monoculture tree plantations do nothing to restore the lost habitats, are less efficient at storing carbon.

Where will our pulp and paper companies get their supplies now? Are we also going to add cellulosic ethanol into consideration, given the chance it will actually take off and we all know how much GA, FL, PA and other states will allow their trees to be "exploited" for such 'green' schemes. Yeah, trees are greener than coal, but the smoke, ash, and destructiveness of combustion are still present. Let's just change the feedstocks and forget about actual solutions.

We wouldn't want to mention how cost effective conservation and efficiency would be, now would we? They are not as market friendly (for our big pulp companies, oil companies, and carbon traders). Is anyone reading this actually going to consciously allow carbon being traded as a commodity? Do you know how silly that actually is and all the loopholes being developed by profiteers and government insiders? You do know it's the industries that write the legislation?

It's bad and even worse when you take into consideration how our US policies, EU policies and the rest of the OECD will affect the rest of the world - exploitation one way of phrasing it.

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