Snowflake Area Biomass Power Plant Synchronized To Electric Utility GridMay 3rd, 2008
According to officials of Renegy Holdings Inc., Snowflake White Mountain Power (SWMP) has successfully synchronized its 24-megawatt biomass power plant to the electric utility grid.
This was the first step in getting the plant up and running since the completion of construction. Renegy officials estimate that the plant will use approximately 50 percent wood waste from Northeastern Arizona forests and 50 percent paper sludge in its electric generating process, though wood waste will create more energy per pound than sludge, and is expected to create about 75 percent of the total energy produced.
The plant is located west of Snowflake, with approximately 25 percent of the energy produced coming from burning sludge from the paper mill that is adjacent to the facility.
Paper mill sludge volume is estimated at 250 tons per day. Up until it starts being processed for energy, the sludge is being disposed of in a landfill, according to Renegy.
Wood waste used in the process will come mainly from fire damaged trees, including those partially burned in the 2002 Rodeo-Chedeski fire. Renegy has been authorized to harvest the trees for use in the biomass plant.
In an April 28 Renegy news release, provided by Hugh Smith, the firm’s chief operating officer, stated, “This achievement marks the successful completion of construction at the plant site and demonstrates continued advancement in our start-up activities. Synchronizing to the grid is a critical milestone toward commercial operations. Over the next several weeks, we plan to complete a variety of performance tests to demonstrate commercial operability, including gradually ramping up the electrical power output to full load while continuing to fine tune the operations. Based on the progress to date, our Snowflake plant remains on track to be fully operational this quarter.”
Renegy has more than 20,000 acres of the fire-damaged area under contract with an estimated volume of over 300,000 tons of biomass and more than $4 million retail value in saw logs. The biomass plant will need more than 100,000 bone dry tons of biomass annually to operate given the paper sludge available from the paper mill.
Renegy also has a contract with Fort Apache Timber Company for sawdust and ground sawmill waste.
The energy produced has already been obligated to Arizona Public Service Co. and Salt River Project. The Snowflake plant will be Renegy’s first commercial biomass power generation facility.
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