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KiOR Focuses On Plant Upgrades
KiOR, Inc. reported that its new Columbus, Miss. facility was expected to produce 920,000 gallons during 2013 with a ratio of 35% gasoline, 40% diesel and 25% fuel oil.
Fred Cannon, president and CEO, comments, “It continues to demonstrate the progress that we have made in bringing the world’s first cellulosic gasoline and diesel commercial facility to steady-state operations. Despite our accomplishments to date, we still have a lot of work to do to bring the Columbus facility towards target throughput, yield and financial performance levels. The financial performance of the facility was negatively impacted by the temporarily depressed pricing for RINs caused by proposed 2014 renewable volume obligation rulemaking by the USEPA.”
Cannon said the project needs to focus on three goals: first, bringing the Columbus facility to the levels of operational and financial performance that were expected when they designed that facility over three years ago; second, continuing to develop technology so that they can improve yields and process improvements both at Columbus and at future facilities; and third, aggressively managing cost without sacrificing their long-term goals.
“To that end, from now through the end of the first quarter of 2014, we expect that our efforts at Columbus will be focused on implementing a series of mechanical improvements to the facility rather than production volumes,” he says. “We plan to operate the facility on a limited campaign basis only to verify the expected impact of improvements we intend to implement. In addition, we continue to see encouraging developments in our catalyst and process development efforts that we believe will continue to drive improvement in yields and overall plant economics.”
Cannon added, “The uncertainty caused by USEPA’s proposed 2014 RVO rulemaking has already made and will continue to make our expansion financing efforts more challenging, but we believe that once USEPA adjusts the 2014 RVOs in a manner consistent with the policy goals of the Renewable Fuel Standard, some of these short-term challenges will lessen. While our strategy is taking longer to execute than we anticipated two years ago, we believe that successful execution of our strategy will build a sustainable business that will deliver long-term value to our shareholders.”
Dalkia Will Operate Biomass Power Plant
Dalkia and Fengate Capital Management Ltd. have closed the financing for a biomass plant in Fort St. James, British Columbia. Dalkia will operate and maintain the facilities and manage the woody biomass supply and preparation. Funding for this project will be provided by the Canadian fund Fengate Capital Management Ltd. Dalkia and Fengate Capital Management Ltd. have contracted Iberdrola Engineering & Construction to build the plant.
With an electricity capacity of 40 MW, the plant will consume 307,000 metric tons of biomass a year. Dalkia will manage the biomass supply working closely with local forestry companies, sawmills and the First Nations. The biomass used by this plant will largely comprise waste from the British Columbia forestry industry, such as sawmill and logging waste, and trees killed by the mountain pine beetle epidemic that has ravaged British Columbia forests over the past 10 years.
This plant will generate electricity sold to BC Hydro & Power Authority to power almost 40,000 Canadian households. It will reportedly avoid the annual discharge of around 95,000 metric tons of CO2.
The project will also create around 250 jobs during the construction phase, and then 80 new direct and indirect jobs during the 30-year operation period.
“This project will capitalize on Dalkia’s worldwide experience in designing and operating more than 450 biomass plants. In winning this contract, Dalkia has demonstrated its know-how and expertise, and the relevance of its international growth strategy,” comments Franck Lacroix, Chairman of Dalkia.
Dalkia is a wholly owned subsidiary of Veolia Environnement and Electricité de France.
We Energies Begins Commercial Operation
We Energies reported that the 50 MW woody biomass-fueled power plant on the site of Domtar Corp.’s Rothschild, Wis. paper mill was placed into commercial operation in November after testing and commissioning activities were successfully completed.
“The addition of the biomass plant enables us to produce renewable energy on demand,” says Gale Klappa, We Energies chairman, president and CEO. “That benefit is simply not available with solar or wind generation.”
More than 400 workers contributed to the construction of the biomass plant, which also will support approximately 150 permanent jobs in the region, including independent wood suppliers and haulers from northern and central Wisconsin who will secure waste wood for the project.
Under Wisconsin law, utilities statewide must use renewable energy to meet 10% of the electricity needs of their retail customers by the year 2015. With the commercial operation of the Rothschild biomass plant, We Energies estimates that it now has secured enough renewable energy to remain in compliance with the state mandate through 2022.
In addition, Domtar’s use of the steam produced by the plant will help improve the paper mill’s energy efficiency and reduce overall emissions at the site by more than 30%.
Bill Would Eliminate Corn Ethanol Mandate
Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) and eight cosponsors introduced the Corn Ethanol Mandate Elimination Act of 2013, which would eliminate the corn ethanol mandate within the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), which requires annual increases in the amount of renewable fuel that must be blended into the total volume of gasoline refined and consumed in the U.S.
Feinstein said, “Under the corn ethanol mandate in the RFS, roughly 44% of U.S. corn is diverted from food to fuel, pushing up the cost of food and animal feed and damaging the environment. Oil companies are also unable to blend more corn ethanol into gasoline without causing problems for automobiles, boats and other vehicles. I strongly support requiring a shift to low-carbon advanced biofuel, including biodiesel, cellulosic ethanol and other revolutionary fuels. But a corn ethanol mandate is simply bad policy.”
The Renewable Fuel Standard, first enacted in 2005, requires refiners and blenders to use 16.55 billion gallons of renewable fuel in 2013. More than 13 billion gallons of this total will be met by the use of corn ethanol, a level that will increase in subsequent years.
Acccording to Feinstein, there are two key problems with continuing to mandate the consumption of more and more corn ethanol each year. Corn consumption: Approximately 44% of the U.S. corn crop is now used to produce ethanol, artificially inflating food and feed prices while damaging the environment. Blend wall: As gasoline consumption declines, refiners face a “blend wall” when the RFS mandate exceeds the limit at which ethanol can be blended into the fuel supply, determined to be 10% of total gasoline consumption.
The Corn Ethanol Mandate Elimination Act of 2013 solves both problems by removing the top-line mandate for renewable fuels, while leaving mandates for non-corn ethanol advanced biofuels untouched, she said.
Upgrades Planned For INEOS Bio
The INEOS Bio Vero Beach (Fla.) facility has made significant operational progress and is steadily moving toward stable operations in 2014 with a focus on improving performance metrics throughout the year, according to David King, site director.
“Bringing the facility on-line and up to capacity has taken longer than planned due to several unexpected startup issues at the Center. These efforts have highlighted some needed modifications and upgrades,” King says. “In the upcoming months we will focus on implementing these upgrades. We believe that performance at the facility to date has shown that, once these modifications are successfully implemented, INEOS Bio’s technology can meet and over time exceed the design technology performance metrics.”
The efforts moving forward will continue to focus on safe operations, optimizing the technology, and de-bottlenecking the plant to achieve full production capacity, King adds.
The BioEnergy Center is a joint venture commercial demonstration project between INEOS Bio and New Planet Energy. At full capacity, it will have an annual output of 8 million gallons (24kta) of cellulosic ethanol and 6 MW (gross) of renewable power.
This is the first commercial-scale production in the world using INEOS Bio’s gasification and fermentation technology for conversion of biomass waste into bioethanol and renewable power. The facility has converted several types of waste biomass material into bioethanol, including vegetative and yard waste, and citrus, oak, pine, and pallet wood waste.
The Center cost more than $130 million and has 65 full-time employees. The Center will serve as a reference plant for future INEOS Bio facilities and for companies and cities interested in licensing the technology for similar facilities.
EPA Hosts Meeting On SPI Expansion
Environmental Protection Agency held a public meeting in Anderson, Calif. about the proposed addition to Sierra Pacific Industries’ 4 MW cogeneration plant on the site. Following the proposed $43 million expansion the mill would consume about 7 MW and 24 MW would be sold.
Sierra Pacific hopes to complete the addition in 2015.
SPI principal Red Emmerson was quoted on the project, which was first proposed in 2009: “This delay has been ridiculous. We’ve already spent $1 million trying to get this facility permitted. It has probably cost Shasta County between $300,000 and $350,000 each year in taxes that we would have paid had we been allowed to build it and operate it, so that is $1 million in taxes that these delays have cost the county. And that isn’t even counting the additional jobs it would have created.”
Bandit Industries, Alamo Go Separate Ways
Bandit Industries announced that the company will for now remain privately owned, as it has turned down a purchase offer from Alamo Group Inc. The company also stated that it will continue to explore options for a potential sale.
Alamo Group reported that the proposed acquisition, which was announced on November 19, had been terminated; that the transaction was subject to certain conditions and that the parties “had been unable to reach an agreement on a basis for going forward.”
Bandit Industries President Jerry Morey comments, “Alamo is an exceptional company and we are very honored that they’ve shown such an interest in Bandit and our corporate culture. Ultimately, we decided the best future for Bandit and our 400 employees at this time was to remain a private company.”
Bandit Industries reports that 2013 was a record sales year. The company recently completed a factory expansion of 20,000 square feet, with additional expansions already in the works.
“When we first announced that we were considering offers to sell Bandit, myself, Mike Morey Sr. and Dianne Morey said that we would only sell if it was the right fit,” Jerry Morey says. “Taking care of our employees and our dealer network, continuing to support our mid-Michigan community and maintaining the Bandit legacy we built over the last 30 years, these are things we cannot put a price on.”
Bandit employs 408 at its mid-Michigan headquarters, constructing nearly 50 different wood processing machines that range from small wood chippers to large wood waste recyclers, stump grinders and forestry mowers. Bandit equipment is sold through a global dealer network with more than 160 locations.
Alamo Group is a leader in the design and manufacture of equipment for right-of-way maintenance and agriculture, including truck and tractor mounted mowers, street sweepers, excavators and other products.
Woody Biomass Will Be Part Of Biochemtex Mix
A global technology provider of specialized biofuels and renewable chemicals, Biochemtex, plans to invest $200 million to build its new cellulosic biofuels production center in Sampson County, North Carolina.
The company says it will operate in North Carolina as Carolina Cellulosic Biofuels, delivering the first commercial scale cellulosic bio-refinery utilizing purpose grown energy crops in North America. The plant is expected to produce 20 million gallons per year of cellulosic biofuel from locally grown energy crops, agricultural residues, and woody biomass.
The project was made possible in part by a performance-based grant from the One North Carolina Fund of up to $300,000. Other partners that helped with this project include the NC Dept. of Commerce, NC Community Colleges, Sampson County Economic Development Corp., Sampson County, City of Clinton, NC, Dept. of Agriculture, NCSU – NC Cooperative Extension and the Biofuels Center of North Carolina.
Members of NC Assn. of Professional Loggers assisted Chemtex with favorable comments at public hearings and also a large sample of local wood chips sent to the Chemtex plant in Italy to test ethanol production.
Rentech Reports Pellet Plants Progressing
D. Hunt Ramsbottom, president and CEO of Rentech, commented the company is pleased with the performance of its wood fiber processing business, as Fulghum Fibres generates solid gross margins and progress continues on construction of its two wood pellet production facilities. Construction of the Atikokan and Wawa pellet facilities in eastern Ontario commenced in August, and Ramsbottom said they remain on schedule to meet pellet delivery obligations to Ontario Power Generation and UK-based power producer Drax this year.
The expected production of the Wawa plant has increased to approximately 450,000 tonnes, with 400,000 tonnes of annual pellet deliveries to Drax, and 50,000 tonnes available for sale to Drax or other customers. The production of the Atikokan facility is now expected to be approximately 100,000 tonnes, which will fulfill the existing contract with OPG for 45,000 tonnes, with the remaining 55,000 tonnes available for sale to OPG or other customers.
Rentech is installing 170-foot electric radial log cranes from Fulghum Industries at each plant wood yard.
The Rentech team includes the former plant manager, wood yard manager, and manager of capital projects at the Wawa facility, all of whom worked at the plant when it was operated by Weyerhaeuser as an OSB mill processing nearly 750,000 green metric tons of logs annually.
Drax Gains Momentum On Biomass Conversion
Drax, the UK’s largest power station, is becoming the UK’s largest single renewable electricity generator through the operation of the new biomass facilities launched on the site in December, according to the company.
Energy and Climate Change Secretary, the Rt Hon Edward Davey MP, opened new systems to receive, store and distribute sustainable biomass and fully support Drax Power Station’s first converted biomass unit, as well as further units as they are converted.
The biomass conversion will ultimately see three of the six generating units at the power station converted to burn sustainable biomass in place of coal. The first unit has been running successfully on sustainable biomass since the beginning of April, with the second planned for next year and the third in 2016. Each converted unit will provide enough renewable electricity to meet needs of more than 1 million homes.
Dorothy Thompson, chief executive of Drax, commented, “Today marks the transformation not just of our power station, but of our whole business. The facilities being opened today are a unique feat of engineering and remarkably they have been delivered at an operational power station which the country depends on to deliver 7-8% of the power we need.
“This fundamental change has implications far beyond Drax and even our supply chain. Sustainable biomass has a critical role in the UK’s electricity mix. It is the only renewable which can deliver low carbon electricity on demand, at the scale the grid needs and precisely when it’s needed. It is also a low cost renewable which will help to manage the expense of the UK’s transition to a low carbon economy.”
Drax Power Station has been the largest single emitter of carbon dioxide in the UK, according to the company, but conversion of three of its six generating units to sustainable biomass will see its emissions reduced by around 10 million tonnes on today’s levels.
German Pellets Receives ENplus Certification
The German Pellets facility in Woodville, Texas has received ENplus certification, which confirms the high quality of product from the facility that commenced operations this summer. The ENplus seal of merit attests that the wood pellets produced in the U.S. facility match the highly challenging European product expectations.
The Woodville facility has an annual capacity of 578,000 tonnes. For the German Pellets Group, the market emphasis, apart from Germany, is on Italy, Austria, Denmark and Belgium. The pellets from Woodville are shipped to Europe via Port Arthur, Texas.
The ENplus seal of merit is awarded by the European Pellet Council in Brussels, thereby implementing the European norm for wood pellets (EN 14961-2). The facility in Woodville has been given the ENplus ID-number US 005.
Croatian City Will Implement Biomass Power
Metso’s Pulp, Paper and Power business, the future Valmet, will supply Uni Viridas d.o.o. with a complete biomass fired power plant, which will provide power and heat to the city of Babina Creda in Croatia. The plant is scheduled to be in operation in 2015.
The turnkey delivery will include a boiler island, a turbine and buildings as well as installation and construction works. The boiler can utilize a range of fuels such as forest residues with high combustion efficiency and low NOx and CO2 emissions. The plant will have a power output of 9.7 MW and a heat output of 10 MW. The electricity will be distributed to the local grid and the heat will be utilized in a wood pellet factory, other industrial facilities, and nearby greenhouses.
The combustion system is based on Metso’s bubbling fluidized bed (BFB) technology that is used in more than 170 operating plants around the world.
Uni Viridas d.o.o. is a special purpose entity established for the Babina Greda biomass cogeneration plant project. It is a joint venture formed by a foreign investor, Unit Investment N.V., and a domestic investor, Energia Solution Ltd. Unit Investment, which is headquarted in Brussels, has 40 years of experience in the energy sector. Energia Solution Ltd has experience in developing projects in the renewable energy sector.
Viridis Merchants Launches First Deal
Viridis Energy Inc.’s subsidiary, Viridis Merchants Inc., an aggregation and trading service between buyers and sellers of alternative energy, including wood pellets, has structured its first transaction.
Viridis Merchants has secured approximately 30,000 tons of wood pellets from a Southeast U.S. producer, representing approximately 30% of the manufacturer’s capacity, to be delivered over the next 12 months to customers in Europe. Viridis Merchants is serving as a principal in the trade, providing value-add services such as logistics and marketing to the producer. The first shipment left port en route to the residential market in Europe.
Christopher Robertson, Viridis’ CEO, comments, “We anticipate a profitable growth year in 2014 as we realize the full year production of our manufacturing plant in Nova Scotia. In addition, we expect Viridis Merchants to be a complementary and profitable addition to our production capability, and we are encouraged to see how quickly the first transaction has come together. As of today, with this first bulk export transaction in Viridis Merchants, Viridis enters 2014 with approximately 240,000 tons in combined annual production and purchased capacity, a significant increase from 2013.”
Portsmouth Site Celebrates Seventh Year Of Biomass
In December Public Service of New Hampshire (PSNH) celebrated the seventh anniversary of the Northern Wood Power biomass unit at Schiller Station.
Northern Wood Power was completed and became operational in December 2006, permanently replacing a 50 MW coal-burning boiler with an environmentally-friendly system that uses wood chips and other clean, low-grade wood materials for fuel. It has earned state, regional, national and international awards for its innovation and positive environmental changes.
“Northern Wood has provided customers with clean energy and tremendous value during its first seven years of commercial operation,” says Bill Smagula, PSNH vice president - Generation. “Its success is a tribute to all the great effort put forth by many PSNH employees and the work of our local foresters.”
“For New Hampshire loggers like me, Northern Wood Power has provided a vital, consistent market for our forest product,” notes Jeff Eames, president of Fort Mountain Trucking in Allenstown. Eames was recently named the U.S. Logger of the Year by Timber Harvesting magazine and is a regular supplier of clean wood chips to Northern Wood Power. “It is gratifying to bring this product to market and know that it is helping provide clean energy to New Hampshire. It has been one reason that we have been able to maintain a vibrant forestry business and to contribute, economically, to the many other businesses that we work with.”
Over its first seven years, Northern Wood’s achievements have included:
By utilizing a locally available renewable fuel source, Northern Wood not only lessens New Hampshire’s dependence on fossil fuels but also has served as a new and significant wood chip market for New Hampshire’s forest industry.
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