Search for new and used cars from NH dealers.
web feeds

Mobile

Dec242009

Some folks in Berlin oppose wood-burning power plant

Filed under Alternative energy by david brooks at 9:48 am

EDITOR’S NOTE: As the comment below makes clear, I am confused: two biomass plants have been proposed in Berlin, and part of the debate involves which should go forward since there isn’t grid capacity for both.

As this article from the Berlin Reporter (that’s Berlin, N.H., for confused out-of-state readers) makes clear, not everybody is happy at the thought of a utility-scale wood-burning power plant setting up shop in town. Among the issues being raised, says the story, are “concerns about the plant using wastewater discharge in the cooling towers and burning algae, and truck traffic through neighborhoods.”

To us flatlanders from the southern part of the state, this project seems a slam dunk, now that questions have been answered about whether the grid can handle it. After all, Berlin was built around paper mills, which are at least as intrusive as, and much stinkier than, biomass power plants, and the region is full of loggers who need more companies to employ them now that the paper industry is dying. But up close, nothing is as straightforward as it seems from afar.

Tags:

Viewing 1 Comment

    • ^
    • v
    There is a little confusion here. There are two biomass plants looking to open in Berlin, the 70 MW Laidlaw Energy plant and a smaller 29 MW Clean Power Development Plant. The above comments are about the smaller plant. Supporters of each plant have been trying to block the other because the grid will only support one or the other but not both if the Noble Wind Farm comes online first. Clean Power wants to use the effluent from the Berlin Waste Water Plant in their cooling towers to help the town and have partnered with a seacoast company trying to pioneer the use of algae as a potential biomass fuel. At 29 MW CPD fall is too small to have to submit an application to EFSEC and is well ahead of Laidlaw in the permiting process. Laidlaw supporters are trying to force CPD into the EFEC process in order to give the advantage to Laidlaw. The battle has been going on for awhile. The new city administration coming into power next month supports Laidlaw while the outgoing administration supported CPD. PSNH supports Laidlaw and CPD has a complaint before the PUC that PSNH is playing favorites.

Trackbacks

close Reblog this comment
Powered by Disqus · Learn more
blog comments powered by Disqus