Governor Rick Perry Signs Bill Expected to Encourage Development of Biomass Generation Plants in Texas

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas). Would-be developers of biomass generation plants received good news last week when Governor Rick Perry signed House Bill 1090. The Bill, signed June 15, 2007, relates to the establishment of a program by the Department of Agriculture to provide grants to encourage the construction of generating plants that will utilize agricultural residues, crop waste, wood waste and other debris. This is expected to contribute towards meeting the state’s goals for increasing renewable energy sources. Loggers, farmers and others who normally dispose of this waste by burning or landfilling will receive financial incentives to collect and deliver the waste to power generating facilities.

Two projects currently under development in East Texas could benefit from this recent action. BayCorp Holdings Limited (Portsmouth, New Hampshire) and Energy Management Incorporated (Boston, Massachusetts) partnered to create Nacogdoches Power LLC in order to develop a new 100-megawatt biomass fired power plant. The company recently received its permits to move forward with the project which will be built near the small community of Sacul, about 25 miles northwest of Nacogdoches, Texas. Nacogdoches Power is seeking power purchase agreements in order to complete financing of the project. Construction of the $300 million plant is expected to begin later this year in order to begin commercial operation during 2009. The plant is expected to burn 1 million tons of biomass per year to fuel a Kvaerner bubbling bed boiler to drive a Siemens Westinghouse steam turbine. In addition to the biomass fired unit, there is the possibility that natural gas fired combustion turbines could be added in the future.

Just 50 miles away in Lufkin, Texas, development plans are moving forward for a smaller biomass fired power plant at a proposed 57-acre site near Kurth Drive and Loop 287. Aspen Power LLC (Lufkin, Texas) and its parent company Aspen Pipeline Limited (Houston, Texas) are in the final stages of permitting a 45-megawatt, $84 million plant. The plant is expected to burn 1,500 tons per day of logging debris, urban biomass, wood chips and mill waste. Through its affiliate Angelina Fuels LLC the company is in the process of securing contracts to acquire biomass and transport the waste to the plant. Technical design of the plant is being managed by Thermal Systems Engineering, Incorporated (Hot Springs, Arkansas), while Hahn & Clay (Houston, Texas) is expected to provide engineering and construction management services. The plant is designed to use a single pass membrane wall boiler supplied by Factory Sales & Engineering Incorporated (Covington, Louisiana) to drive a General Electric steam turbine. Once complete, the plant will employ an estimated 20 persons.

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