Massive Biomass Boiler Arrives at George's River Energy Site in Maine

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The massive biomass boiler that will produce renewable energy for George's River Energy LLC (Searsmont, Maine) made a 50-mile trip from the Sprague Terminal in Searsport, Maine, to its final destination at the biomass power plant's site at Robbins Lumber Mill in Searsmont, Maine.

Construction of the estimated $35 million cogeneration power plant is in full swing. Once completed, it will provide renewable energy to Central Maine Power's (Augusta, Maine) grid and steam to run the mill's kilns. It also will allow for expanded industrial use at the site.

The 8.5-megawatt (MW), multistage-extraction, condensing steam-turbine generation set already had been shipped more than 7,500 miles to Searsport from manufacturer Chola Turbo Machinery International's facilities in Bengaluru, India.

The biomass boiler will chew up some 90 tons per day of material from bark, hog fuel, sawdust and wood chips to produce energy. Local firms Mid-South Engineering Company (Millnocket, Maine) is providing engineering services for the project, and Cianbro Corporation (Pittsfield, Maine) was selected as the engineering, procurement and construction contractor.

Construction on the plant began in February with the installation of a cooling tower and a twin-pit dump station for wood chips. Construction is expected to run through the winter months, and the plant is expected to be fully operational by the third quarter of 2018.

Early on, the project almost was derailed over fees assessed by Central Maine Power to connect the facility to the electrical grid. The two parties agreed to a 20-year power-purchase agreement at a rate of 9.9 cents per kilowatt-hour. The project also was awarded incentives by the State of Maine Public Utilities Commission for the development of community-based renewable projects.

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