Large Biomass Project Begins Operations in Gainesville, Florida

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Waste wood has a new place to go in central Florida. Last month, a 117-megawatt, grassroot, biomass-fired generator began operations. The $450 million project, developed by American Renewables LLC (Boston, Massachusetts) and built by Fagen Incorporated (Granite Falls, Minnesota), will burn a variety of woody biomass, including untreated forest residue, pulp and paper mill residue, tree trimmings, urban wood waste, recycled industrial wood, and wood from storms, fires, and diseased trees.

The Gainesville Renewable Energy Center, under development since 2007, uses a Metso Paper USA Hybex bubbling fluidized-bed boiler and a Siemens SST-500 steam-turbine generator. The facility installed selective catalytic reduction (SCR) equipment and a baghouse to reduce emissions. The biomass power plant is one of the largest of its kind in the U.S.

Construction of the Gainesville Renewable Energy Center was affected by the Boiler MACT rule from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (Washington, D.C.). The project had secured its final permits when the Boiler MACT rule was announced in 2010, necessitating a redesign of the project and a doubling of the filter house. This added several million dollars to the cost of the project.

The plant is located near Gainesville Regional Utilities' (GRU) coal-fired Deerhaven power station. American Renewables has secured a 30-year contract with GRU to purchase all of the electricity generated from the facility.

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