Portland, Oregon [RenewableEnergyAccess.com] Energy Trust will invest up to $5 million in a 15.8-megawatt biomass-cogeneration project that will be owned by the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs and their financial partner.
The project, which will cost $46 million to build, will also provide steam for Warm Springs Forest Products Industries, the Tribes’ wood products enterprise. By using clean wood fuel from forest fuels reduction and forest restoration projects in Central Oregon, saw mill residuals and other clean materials, the project will result in healthier forests.
“This is one of the largest incentives yet paid by Energy Trust,” said Adam Serchuk, biomass program director for Energy Trust. “Biomass is an extremely attractive renewable resource, locally and nationally. It’s a constant resource that provides energy with multiple environmental and economic benefits.”
The developer and owner of the project is Warm Springs Biomass LLC, an organization formed with businesses owned by the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, plus a third-party investor. The project will begin operating by December 31, 2008, under a 20-year agreement with Energy Trust. Energy Trust will fund the Warm Springs Biomass project on behalf of customers of Portland General Electric (PGE).
The Tribe is building a transmission line to deliver the electricity generated to PGE via an interconnection at Pelton Dam, a hydroelectric facility on the Deschutes River that is owned jointly by PGE and the Tribes. It was recently certified by the Low Impact Hydropower Institute.
