Fibrominn Prepares for Construction of Biomass Fired Power Plant in Minnesota

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). Fibrominn LLC is preparing to start construction this June on their poultry litter-fired power plant to be located in Swift County, Benson, Minnesota. The $100 million project, located on 84 acres in an industrial park on the northwest side of Benson, will include a waste incinerator that will burn turkey manure and other biomass fuel to produce steam for a 50 megawatt (MW) turbine/generator set.

Used litter is a byproduct of the poultry industry worldwide, and Benson is in the heart of a large poultry-producing area. The Benson site was chosen over 30 potential sites because of its access to gas lines, water, and the growth in poultry production in Minnesota, which has a high ranking for turkey production in the U.S. The plant will consume up to 500,000 tons of turkey litter annually, and use alfalfa stems as a secondary fuel source.

In a poultry litter-fueled power plant, a furnace burns the litter at very high temperature, heating water in a boiler to produce steam. The steam drives a turbine linked to an electrical generator. The produced electricity will be sent to the grid, and the steam condensed back into the boiler.

This method of producing electricity has major environmental advantages over other methods. The process is clean, and the only byproduct is ash. Ash is nitrogen-free, rich in potassium and phosphate. Poultry plants produce very low levels of emissions. However, not everyone believes in the plant to turn poultry manure and alfalfa into electricity. Citizens are concerned about the impacts the plant will have on the area. Poultry litter stored in the open cause odor problems. The litter when left on land releases methane, a greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere.

Fibrominn has a 20-year power purchase agreement with Xcel Energy (NYSE: XEL) (Minneapolis, Minnesota). Xcel Energy is obligated to provide 125-megawatt of biomass-generated power in exchange for storing radioactive waste at its Prairie Island Nuclear Plant (Welch, Minnesota). Xcel Energy is the fourth largest electricity and natural gas energy company in the country. The company was formed by the merger of New Century Energies (Denver, Colorado) and Northern States Power Company (Minneapolis, Minnesota).

The chosen EPC (engineering, procurement, construction) contractor for the project is SNC Lavalin Group Incorporated (Montreal, Canada). The company is one of the world's leading engineering and construction companies.

Fibrominn LLC will be the operator of the facility once it is completed. Fibrominn LLC is a subsidiary of Fibrowatt LLC (Yardley, Pennsylvania). Fibrowatt LLC is a joint venture between Fibrowatt Limited (London, England) and Energy Power Resources Ltd (EPRL) (Bristol, England).

Fibrowatt is an international developer, builder, owner and operator of electricity power plants fueled by agricultural biomass. Fibrowatt is a company engaged in the production of renewable energy from the combustion of poultry litter.

The Benson plant is to be the largest "biomass" incinerator in the country. Construction will take about two years to complete.