Biomass Power As a Firm Utility Resource: Bigger Not Necessarily Better Or Cheaper

A rush to biomass power is underway in the U.S. with both public and consumer owned utilities proposing their first biomass power facilities

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Description

Biomass Power As a Firm Utility Resource: Bigger Not Necessarily Better Or Cheaper

William H. Carlson

Abstract
A rush to biomass power is underway in the U.S. with both public and consumer owned utilities proposing their first biomass power facilities. The average size of facility proposed is rising rapidly, supposedly to capture economies of scale. Unique to biomass, ever larger plants may not yield lower busbar costs. In many locales, a combination of fuel constraints, capped incentive programs, loss of local options and availability of combined heat and power (CHP) options lead to the optimization of the facility at a much smaller size. In the Oregon example included a 10 MWe CHP plant yields a substantially lower busbar cost than a 100 MWe stand alone plant.

Index TermsBiomass power, CHP, optimum size

I. INTRODUCTION
The combination of high fossil fuel prices, mandates for renewable electricity and concern over greenhouse gas emissions have combined to create an interest in North American biomass power not seen since the passage of the Public Utility Regulatory Policy Act (PURPA) in the late
1970s.

Up to this point, North American biomass power development has been almost exclusively the province of independent power developers and the forest products industry, with but a handful of notable utility plants. If recent announcements are an indication, utilities are now proposing
significant biomass power capacity and a crop of new developers are proposing ever larger facilities.

W.H. Carlson is with Carlson Small Power Consultants, a biomass power consulting firm located in Redding,California

2009 IEEE, Reprinted with Permission, Smallwood News

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Additional Information

Web Site: http://smallwoodnews.com/Docs/PDF/Supply/BIOMASS%20POWER%20AS%20A%20FIRM%20UTILITY%20RESOURCE.pdf

Category: Forestry>Biomass Energy

Region: All US

Ad Running: 8/28/2009-8/28/2011

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