industry
NEWS Princeton, N.J.-based power generation company NRG Energy Inc. announced its intention to use woody biomass as a fuel source at its Montville Generating Station in Uncasville, Conn. The biomass-based energy would provide approximately 30 megawatts of the unit’s annual 82-megawatt electrical generating capacity. NRG intends to use wood chips and other woody biomass to cogenerate electricity currently being produced with oil and natural gas. According to NRG spokeswoman Lourie Newman, the company expects to begin integrating biomass into the Uncasville facility in mid-2011. This would be its fourth “Repowering NRG” project in Connecticut. The initiatives aim to integrate renewable and sustainable power sources at NRG’s 48 plants across the U.S. The company has a
PHOTO: NRG ENERGY INC.
Connecticut power plant plans wood biomass integration
NRG’s Montville Generating Station in Uncasville, Conn., aims to produce approximately 30 megawatts of power using woody biomass.
total generation capacity of approximately 24,000 megawatts. According to Michael Liebelson, NRG chief development officer of low-carbon technology, finding ways to reduce the carbon footprint of its existing electrical generation plants is what prompted the
company to incorporate biomass as a fuel source. “When this biomass project comes on line, it will be another step in helping Connecticut reach its goal of creating 20 percent Class 1 renewable power generation by 2020,” he said. “In addition to providing clean, renewable energy to Connecticut residents, we are obtaining the biomass from nearby foresters and sawmills, which will provide economic benefits to the region.” In mid-2008, NRG added 40 megawatts of ultra-low-sulfur-diesel-based power generation at its Cos Cob site in Fairfield County, Conn., bringing the plant’s total output to 100 megawatts, while reducing overall emissions from the site. -Bryan Sims
Several wood pellet manufacturers are opening new plants in 2009. Here, EPM details the latest projects. Indeck Energy Services Inc. in Buffalo Grove, Ill., plans to open the Indeck Magnolia Biofuel Center wood pellet production plant in Magnolia, Miss., in September. The company has a contract with a local provider for wood within 50 miles of the plant, according to Nunzio Maniaci, manager of business development for Indeck. He said presales for pellets have primarily been to customers in the northeastern U.S., including New England, New York and Pennsylvania. However, Indeck anticipates significant bulk sales to European markets, as well. In the heart of the northeastern U.S. wood pellet market, Geneva Wood Fuels LLC plans to open its Strong Maine Wood Pellet facility in Strong, Maine, in early 2009. It will produce wood pellets for the homeheating market under the brand Maine’s
PHOTO: RYAN C. CHRISTIANSEN, BBI INTERNATIONAL INC.
Biomass fuel pellets show promise
Pellets of DDGS mixed with wheat middlings were made using the Hi-Tech Agro PL500 flat-die pellet mill at the Agricultural Utilization Research Institute in Waseca, Minn.
Choice, which will be sold exclusively by Foxborough, Mass.-based International Forest Products to distribution outlets in the Northeast and possibly Pennsylvania, according to Peter Keyes, president of solid
products for International Forest Products. He said demand for wood pellets in the Northeast is strong, fueled by a 500 percent increase in wood pellet stove sales in 2008. Meanwhile, researchers at the Agricultural Utilization Research Institute in Waseca, Minn., continue to test how energy crops in the U.S. can be made into pellets for combustion. In December, AURI and representatives from Hi-Tech Agro Projects Private Ltd., a biomass densification system manufacturer based in New Delhi, India, demonstrated the Hi-Tech Agro PL500 flat-die pellet mill that AURI is using in its lab. AURI demonstrated pelletizing distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) and also DDGS mixed with wheat middlings. According to AURI, DDGS provides an average of 9,600 British thermal units (Btu) of energy per pound, and wheat middlings provide as much as 8,200 Btu per pound. -Ryan C. Christiansen
20 BIOMASS MAGAZINE 2|2009