December 5, 2010
By: Spencer Hunt
Biomass burning is proposed for Picway Generating Station in Lockbourne and nine other Ohio sites.
Plans to burn wood instead of coal at nine Ohio power plants now might do little more than fill state filing cabinets.
For a while, utility companies were gung-ho on burning wood as a renewable source of electricity and praised the idea as a way to meet a state mandate to cut down on coal.
The first public sign of trouble came on Nov. 17, when FirstEnergy announced that converting its R.E. Burger coal-fired power station into a "biomass" plant would cost too much. Located near Shadyside in Belmont County, Burger instead will be used only during peak electricity demand.
Officials with all of Ohio's major utilities, including Columbus-based American Electric Power, are now sounding equally discouraged about eight other proposed biomass projects. In all, the projects promised to power as many as 260,000 Ohio homes.
"It's an option, but one that's on the back burner for us," said Sally Thelen, a spokeswoman for Duke Energy, which had proposed burning wood and plant wastes at three power stations along the Ohio River.
The projects were submitted to the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio over the past two years to help meet a 2008 state mandate that power companies produce 12.5 percent of their electricity from advanced and renewable sources by 2025. Wood, a "biomass," is considered a renewable source.
Melissa McHenry, an AEP spokeswoman, said the company will still conduct biomass tests at its Muskingum River plant. One problem, AEP said, was that it could not find wood or plant fuel at the right price.
"The cost has not been competitive with the other options for renewable energy," McHenry said, referring to solar and wind power projects.
Environmental groups, including the Ohio Environmental Council, Sierra Club and the Buckeye Forest Council, questioned whether enough wood could be found to fuel all the projects.
The groups estimated the Burger plant alone would have consumed more than 3million tons of wood a year - nearly twice the 1.7 million tons of timber the Ohio logging industry annually produces.
"There isn't enough 'forest residue' or 'paper-mill wastes' available," said Cheryl Johncox, the forest council's interim director. "If all of the permits go forward, we're looking at 351 square miles of cleared forest per year."
The Ohio Consumers' Counsel, which represents utility customers, questioned whether biomass would be affordable. If wood is scarce, power companies would have to pay more to get it, said Anthony Rodriguez, a counsel spokesman.
McHenry said AEP is now investing in wind and solar power projects. In addition to the Muskingum plant, AEP had proposed burning biomass at its Picway plant south of Columbus and at its Conesville plant in Coshocton County.
State officials are still eager to support these projects. The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency released a draft permit last Monday that would let Dayton Power and Light burn biomass at its Killen plant in Adams County.
Dayton Power spokeswoman Lesley Sprigg said in a statement that the company must first resolve several issues, including "securing a consistent and reliable source of fuel."
Of all the proposals to generate electricity from wood, only the proposed South Point Biomass Generation plant in Lawrence County appears to be moving forward. South Point Biomass also was the only company willing to publicly disclose where it would get its fuel.
"To date, the company has entered into wood-waste agreements with approximately 30 independent companies, local businesses and municipalities," South Point reported to the PUCO on Feb.17.
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