|
Northwest Energy Systems Co. LLC out of Bellingham, WA has proposed to build a 42 megawatt forest biomass incinerator for electricity on 130 acres of farmland just 2.5 miles south of Klamath Falls. The site is river frontage property along the Klamath River. Just across the river from the proposed site is Miller Island, a 2000 plus acre State Game Refuge.
The Klamath Bioenergy Facility will need 50-85 diesel truckloads per day of forest chips to run at capacity.
This is not a co-generation (CHP) facility therefore half of the woody biomass incinerated will be wasted because much of the thermal energy will be exhausted and unused. At best the efficiency for such an electricity only facility is around 40 percent.
Most if not all the electricity generated from the facility will be sold to California utilities because there is no demand for additional generating capacity for Klamath Falls or the surrounding area.
The Klamath Falls Herald reported Jeld Wen Timber Resources (JWTR) has publicly agreed to supply all of the woody fuel to the incinerator over the next 20 years. In 2007 JWTR bought 440,000 acres. Added to JWTR existing land holdings this would allegedly total 660,000 acres available to fuel the forest incinerator. However, there is no assurance that a sufficent quantity of forest biomass is actually available from those 660,000 acres of Jeld Wen lands to keep the incinerator running at capacity for the next 20-30 years of operation. And even it there was enough woody biomass the extraction of all that nutrient rich biomass over decades would likely destroy the overall health of the forest ecosystems trying to survive on that 660,000 acres.
A local Klamath County group called Save Our Rural Oregon (SORA) is opposing the proposed facility. Please contact Paul Fouch president of SORO mvbiomass(at)gmail.com to offer assistance or to find out click here.
To view Oregon Department of Environmental Quality response to comments given at December 16th 2010 public hearing and subsequent public written comments go here.
6.22.11
Another biomass incinerator has been proposed less than 1 mile from the current proposed incinerator.
Excerpt below is from RISI Inc.
June 15, 2011 Iberdrola Renewables to build wood energy plant in Klamath Falls, OR LOST RIVER, WV, June 15, 2011 (RISI) - Iberdrola Renewables is in the preliminary stages of developing a 38 MW stand-alone wood energy facility adjacent to its two natural gas-fired power plants in Klamath Falls, OR. The scheme replaces a plan to build a third gas power plant. Time frame for development at Klamath Falls is currently undetermined, as Iberdrola is beginning work on permitting. The facility would consume about 400,000 green tons/year of softwood slash grindings and sawmill residuals. An Iberdrola representative told RISI's Wood Biomass Market Report that customer need for baseload renewable power caused the change in plans. The new plant, he said, could sell into markets in Washington, Oregon or California -- all of which have aggressive renewable portfolio standards. Copyright RISI See Guest Opinion by Paul Fouch on the second incinerator proposed for Klamath Falls and 71 comments to it. We will post additional information on the proposed incinerator as it becomes available.
40 Megawatt Forest Incinerator Proposed for Madras
Stay Tuned.
|