September 25, 2007
Biomass Facility Proposal Discussed
REVITALIZATION: Soaring oil costs fuel plan to update plant
By DAVID WINTERS
TIMES STAFF WRITER
OGDENSBURG - The abundance of wood chips in the north country and soaring oil costs are fueling a plan for construction of a biomass plant at the St. Lawrence Psychiatric Center.
Alliance Energy, owner of the Ogdensburg cogeneration plant, presented a conceptual plan to the City Council at its meeting Monday night. The company plans to switch the facility over from using gas turbines to burning wood to provide heat and electricity.
The proposed biomass plant, capable of generating up to 400 megawatts of electricity, converts wood debris and piles of wood chips into a source of renewable energy. The redevelopment of the facility could be done in 12 to 15 months.
"The fossil fuel prices have become much more expensive then they were in 1994," said Alliance Energy consultant Thomas J. Shepstone. "It really makes this technology that we have obsolete in this particular region."
The biomass plant, expected to cost $40 million to $50 million, would initially generate about 25 megawatts of electricity using low-grade wood chips supplied by about 50 trucks each day. The wood would come from a 70-mile radius around the plant, with sources on both sides of the border.
When the electricity production increases, more trucks would be needed to supply the plant with wood chips, Alliance Energy Regional Manager Joseph Klimaszewski said.
The project calls for using several acres of state-owned land at the Psychiatric Center to store and mix the wood chips.
The plant would include a large outdoor storage area, with the capacity to have up to 30 days of wood chips to burn. A nearby building would be constructed to house up to a three-day capacity. Between the areas, a mixing area is needed. A portion of the storage area would engulf Cottage Drive.
The project would "both revitalize the plant as well as expand its potential, hopefully up to about five times its original size over the next two to three years," Mr. Klimaszewski said.
Counting spin-offs for the company's suppliers, the project could create up to 200 jobs, he said. The cogeneration plant currently has six workers.
The project will remain on the drawing board unless the company can get out from under the 25-year contract that obliges its Ogdensburg cogeneration plant to supply steam heat to the St. Lawrence Psychiatric Center, company officials said.
Company officials said the plant is losing up to $5 million a year supplying the Psychiatric Center with steam. The cogeneration plant hasn't produced electricity since Jan. 16.
Wood Group Power Solutions Inc. of Tulsa, Okla. and AG Energy, which is affiliated with Alliance Energy, also settled a lawsuit over the weekend. Wood Group workers Monday began removing the two gas turbines, capable of generating about 85 megawatts of electricity, from the cogeneration facility, Mr. Klimaszewski said. Wood Group, which purchased the gas turbines for $9.1 million, will ship them in a few weeks by barge through the St. Lawrence Seaway, court papers said.