Dec182009
Despite problems with grid, North Country biomass plant moving ahead
Filed under Alternative energy by david brooks at 11:48 am
Screen shot of my alt-energy Google Map. The plant's size has changed since I wrote that bubble!
The so-called Coos Loop is a section of the power grid that isn’t connected very well to the rest of New England’s power lines. This weak connection has long cast a pall over developing wind farms and wood-burning power plants up in the North Country, where there are lots of trees, lots of windy ridges, and fewer people to object to energy plants. A 99-turbine wind farm being planned near Dixville Notch was supposed to take up all of that connection and make it very hard to build biomass plants, much to the annoyance of loggers in the region, who need something to replace the departed paper mills.
But apparently the connection isn’t as bad as had been thought. NH Business Review reports that plans are going ahead on a roughly 65-megawatt biomass plant in Berlin at the site of the former Fraser Paper Mill. (Project proposal here). From the story:
The company said results of an ISO New England feasibility study indicated that the Berlin facility would be able to connect to the transmission system with minimal upgrades, estimated to cost less than $1 million.
RELATED STORY: Vermont Yankee has a long-term price deal (6.1 cents per kilowatt hour, about 50 percent above the current deal) - and it hopes this will convince regulators to keep it going. AP story here. Free-Press story, with more detail, here.
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