Biomass Plants to Boost Rural Georgia

A power company that serves four million Georgians is investing in renewable energy by building two biomass plants in the state. For two rural communities in south Georgia, it's a boost to the

Oglethorpe Power plans to build biomass plants in Appling and Warren Counties. The company hopes to break ground by 2011 pending state permits. Officials estimate it will create 250 temporary construction jobs at each site.

Once built, each plant would be fueled by wood and employ about 40 people. It would have a ripple effect on the local economy, says Dale Atkins with the Appling County Development Authority. "It's going to have a tremendous impact on our forest industry. Timber land is 70 percent in the county... this will create 500 jobs in the forest industry."

These counties were chosen in part because they are wood baskets. Company officials say the plants should come on line by 2015, and they're considering a third site in Echols County..

Biomass Plant May Come to Eastern Georgia

A power corporation says its closer to pursuing construction of a biomass power plant in eastern Georgia.

Oglethorpe Power says it's buying property in Warren County for a proposed biomass plant. The $400 million plant would use wood chips, chipped pulpwood and wood from sawmills and timber clearings. Timber is a plentiful resource in Georgia.

The plant would power up to 60,000 homes.

"We're very excited to be able to seriously move toward putting renewable energy into the ground and generating some power for the state of Georgia in the process," says Greg Jones, a spokesman for Oglethorpe Power.

The corporation hopes to build a total of two or three plants in Georgia, each with about 40 jobs. The plants would generate hundreds of secondary jobs, says Jones.

Oglethorpe Power hopes the plants will go online in 2014 and 2015, pending approval from government agencies.

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Ga. Power applying for biomass plant permits

Plant Mitchell. (Dave Bender)

Georgia Power Company wants to trade in coal for woodchips to fuel a power plant near Albany. The company is investing in bio mass technology with the hope of saving money.

While bio mass is considered a cleaner fuel source compared to coal, Georgia Power believes it could also be a cheaper solution for producing electricity.

Plant Mitchell turbine area: only one of the facilities three yellow turbines is operational. (Dave Bender)

On a tour of Plant Mitchell in nearby Albany, manager Ronnie Walston explains that Georgia’s millions of acres of forests could be used to power energy producing turbines.

Plant Mitchell water boilers. Coal or wood biomass is heated at the bottom. (Dave Bender)

Currently, the company is experimenting by burning wood chips and similar waste products instead of coal to heat water in the plant's three–story-high boilers. Walston, shouting over the roar of steam turbines in the background:

“The generator takes high-pressure steam from the boiler, turns the generator which delivers 155 megawatts of electrical energy to the grid in Georgia.”

The generator consumes a whopping 62-tons of coal an hour.

Plant Mitchell: Rail cars delivering coal at a siding. (Dave Bender)

After the conversion, the plant would require 160-trucks a day to haul in a million tons of wood chips. While using wood cuts the electrical output by a third, it’s enough to power an estimated 90,000 homes.

Walston says the conversion would keep the plant - which now buys its coal from Appalachia - running for years to come and help the local economy:

“…those dollars now flow out of state. Now, with the biomass – that’s currently not being utilized – will be purchased and consumed here within a 100-mile radius of Plant Mitchell, and so those dollars that previously went out of state will be staying in-state and will create some 50-to-75 jobs in the fuel-harvesting area.”

If successful, the bio mass conversion could happen in 2012.

Control panel at Plant Mitchell. (Dave Bender)

The plan still needs approval from the Environmental Protection Division and the Public Service Commission. A recent study by Oregon state officials show bio mass can cost up to 6.7 per kilowatt hour to produce.

Forbes Magazine ranks Georgia as the third best state in the nation for alternative energy from biomass. The article referenced the amount of privately owned forest in Georgia, more than any other state in the country, as a reason for the state’s ranking. The ranking comes on the heels of CNBC’s including Georgia in the top ten and second in the Southeast in its annual rankings of “America’s Top States for Business.”

EPA estimates show Georgian's pay 6.5 cents for coal produced electricity. The cost of biomass is expected to drop as technologies improve and more plants come online.

Click here for more GPB News coverage about biomass and related alternative energy solutions.

Georgia earns two high rankings

Forbes Magazine ranks Georgia as the third best state in the nation for alternative energy from biomass. The article referenced the amount of privately owned forest in Georgia, more than any other state in the country, as a reason for the state’s ranking. The ranking comes on the heels of CNBC’s including Georgia in the top ten and second in the Southeast in its annual rankings of “America’s Top States for Business.”

'Biomass' electricity plant coming to Lamar County

Lamar County officials say a 160-million dollar plant that produces electricity from biomass is on the way to Barnesville. Rollcast Energy plans to build the plant on a 60-thousand square foot tract in the middle Georgia county. Wood waste from logging and land-clearing operations would be burned in the process leading to producing enough electricity for 40-thousand homes. Officials say up to 25 jobs would be created with a 1.5 million dollar payroll.

Biomass plant coming to Heard Co.

Rollcast Energy of Charlotte, NC., says they plan will build a biomass plant in Heard County, in western Georgia.

The plant, named Greenway Renewable Power, will consume old lumber, wood scraps, and other biomass wood waste to produce 50 megawatts, enough energy to supply 13,000 homes, according to Rollcast.

The $150 million facility is slated for completion in 2010, and will be built near Franklin. It is expected to employ around 25 people.

Georgia Power says they plan to buy 100-percent of the plant's output, as part of a 15-year contract with Rollcast.

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Air Force base goes "green"

Robins Air Force Base in Warner Robins is making a three year commitment to going green. The base signed a contract with Georgia Power to be the utility’s largest consumer of so-called green energy.

Green energy is electricity that’s produced in an environmentally friendly manner. Robins will purchase 40 percent of all renewable energy produced by Georgia Power. Most of Georgia Power’s green energy comes from biomass, supplied by a methane-to-energy plant at a Dekalb County landfill.

Green energy will cost the base a little more, but help them fulfill a commitment to use renewable sources of energy under the 2005 Energy Policy Act. Three thousand Georgia homeowners are also taking part in the green energy program.