Biomass plant in Clearwater County may become a reality
By Alannah Allbrett
Idaho Office of Energy Resources (IER) has awarded a $140,000 grant to Clearwater County to study the feasibility of building a woody biomass plant adjacent to Idaho Correctional Institution-Orofino. It would sell power to the grid and use excess steam to heat the prison which is already set up to utilize steam.
Federal stimulus money has funded the $1.5 million in grants given to several communities throughout the state of Idaho. Elk City and other rural, timber-producing areas are looking to supply wood waste and wood chips to generate the needed energy for such plants.
According to Paul Kjellander, Director of IER, “The state looked for projects that could be repeated in other communities.”
According to Energy Matters, part of the 1998 ThinkQuest Competition, “Biomass is simply the conversion of stored energy in plants into energy that we can use. Biomass has many possibilities as a renewable energy source.”
Chris St Germaine of Clearwater County Economic Development (CEDA) said that it would give a boost to the local timber industry and private landowners by providing another market for wood based products. Such plants are usually located adjacent to schools, prisons, mills, hospitals, and other large facilities enabling them to utilize the excess energy.
“The combination of a biomass plant next to the prison,” said Kjellander, “made the Clearwater County proposal stand out in the competitive grant process. That is an interesting project and one that has some long-term lasting benefits to the state,” he said. “It could not only be a great demonstration project, but there is a potential impact on the state’s general fund for years to come.”
Compared to federal lands, where timber sales are often challenged in court, state and private lands are viewed as more reliable suppliers of wood products.
St Germaine stated that approximately “92 percent of the county is covered by forest land, and much of it is private.”
The proposed plant would be owned by the county and managed by a private contractor, generating approximately 15 megawatts of power. A megawatt is equal to one million watts – enough electricity to power approximately 600 homes. The feasibility study would help determine the exact energy generating capacity of the proposed plant.
Solar Companies, a national directory of solar services, reports “Proponents of biomass argue it is a better energy source than fossil fuels. The basis of this argument is that plants [biomass] have taken in much smaller amounts of carbon gases and thus burning them is a carbon neutral situation,” they stated.
A competitive federal grant program, administered by the U.S. Forest Service, is also in final review by the county according to St Germaine.
“We can’t say we got that money [to build the plant] but we are working real hard to follow through with their information requests,” said St Germaine.