Xcel files application for largest biomass plant in Midwest

From a news release posted on WQOW TV (Eau Claire):

ASHLAND, Wis. (Press Release) - Following more than a year of study and planning, Xcel Energy announced it has filed an application for a Certificate of Authority with the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSCW) to install biomass gasification technology at its Bay Front Power Plant in Ashland. When completed, the project will convert the plant's remaining coal-fired unit to biomass gasification technology, allowing it to use 100 percent biomass in all three boilers and making it the largest biomass plant in the Midwest. Currently, two of the three operating units at Bay Front use biomass as their primary fuel to generate electricity.

The project, estimated at $58 million, will require additional biomass receiving and handling facilities at the plant, an external gasifier, minor modifications to the plant's remaining coal-fired boiler and an enhanced air quality control system. The total generation output of the plant is not expected to change significantly as a result of the project. . . .

The Bay Front Power Plant was originally constructed and began operation in 1916. In 1960, it operated five boilers and six turbines. Since then, two of the boilers, and three of the turbines, have been retired. The three remaining boilers feed into a combined steam header system that can support three turbine-generator sets. During a major plant improvement project completed in 1991, the plant was equipped with an upgraded air quality control system, which includes two gravel bed filters designed to remove more than 98 percent of particulate matter.

Last year, Xcel Energy installed NOx (nitrogen oxide) emission control equipment on the two boilers that primarily burn wood, allowing both to continue to operate into the foreseeable future. When evaluating various alternatives for the remaining boiler, which primarily burns coal, it was determined that expanding Bay Front as a biomass resource was preferred over incurring significant environmental compliance costs relating to the Clean Air Interstate Rule and regulations on mercury emissions. . . .

When complete, the project will reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides by more than 60 percent, sulfur dioxides by more than 80 percent and particulate matter by more than 80 percent. In addition, displacing coal with sustainably harvested biomass will also reduce net carbon dioxide emissions, contributing to the company and state of Wisconsin's carbon management goals.

The primary source of biomass at Bay Front is expected to be the lower quality, unused materials that are currently left in area forests following traditional harvests, such as treetops, logging slash, damaged trees, underutilized species, and the cull and mortality classed trees. Initial investigations conducted by Xcel Energy show more than ample supplies of this lower quality biomass within the area.

To ensure future biomass supplies are available on a reliable basis, Xcel Energy is working with the Wisconsin Office of Energy Independence, University of Wisconsin-Madison and local agricultural experts to explore the feasibility of developing biomass plantations and grower cooperatives.

"Xcel Energy has been a long-time leader in providing renewable energy from local sources to the citizens of Wisconsin," said Michael Vickerman, executive director, RENEW Wisconsin. Mark Redsten, executive director, Clean Wisconsin, agreed.

State law exempts renewable systems from sales tax

Wisconsin law exempts wind, solar, and anaerobic digester systems from the sales and use tax, effective July 2009.

In order to be considered an eligible product, devices must be capable of producing at least 200 watts of alternating current or 600 British thermal units per day. The exemption under does not apply to uninterruptible power sources that are designed primarily for computers.

The law also exempts "receipts from the sale of and the storage, use, or other consumption of electricity or energy" produced by a qualifying system.

Citizens Utility Board and Pub Service agree on energy efficiency, conservation, decoupling

From a news release issued by the Citizens Utility Board:

Madison and Green Bay, Wis. – The Citizens Utility Board (CUB) and Wisconsin Public Service Corporation (WPS) have finalized an agreement to develop a program that will help consumers save energy. The agreement was completed on February 17, 2009.

“CUB and WPS collaborated on the issues to develop a program that will provide substantial benefits to customers and the environment by aggressively pursuing energy efficiency and conservation,” said Charlie Higley, CUB executive director.

CUB and WPS are now working with Focus on Energy, which provides energy efficiency and renewable energy services to residents and businesses in Wisconsin, to design the details of the program, with implementation scheduled for later this year.
The principle components of the program include the following:

+ WPS will increase its annual contribution to Focus on Energy in each of the next four years, 2009 through 2012. With more funds, Focus on Energy will be able to provide additional energy efficiency and renewable energy services to customers of WPS;

+ CUB, WPS, and Focus on Energy will develop energy-saving programs for three communities in the utility’s service territory. The programs will feature innovative rate options, enhanced energy efficiency options, and other ways for customers to reduce their energy use;

+ WPS reduced electric and gas rates for residential and commercial customers by $2.1 million (these changes took effect in January 2009);

+ WPS reduced the “fixed charge” and increased the “volumetric charge,” which are the two major components of electric and natural gas rates. These changes help low-income and other customers who already use a minimum amount of energy, and can encourage other customers to use less energy (these changes took effect in January 2009);

+ WPS will use a “revenue stabilization mechanism,” also known as “decoupling,” which will assure WPS of a certain level of revenue for its electric and natural gas service regardless of weather and other conditions. WPS’s revenue level will be trued up annually. If WPS’s revenues are higher than expected, customers will receive refunds. If WPS’s revenues are lower than expected, WPS will recover the difference over the next year.

Stimulus bright spot: renewable energy

From an article by Tom Content in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Johnson Controls has begun generating electricity from the largest solar power system in the state - nearly 1,500 panels erected on the northeast corner of the company's headquarters campus in Glendale.

The solar power system is part of the $73 million renovation and rehabilitation of the headquarters campus and power solutions businesses for the state's largest company - and will be a showpiece for Johnson Controls as it tries to persuade customers to incorporate renewable energy into their buildings.

Power began generating this month after We Energies commissioned the solar system, said Don Albinger, vice president of renewable energy solutions at Johnson Controls.

The expansion of solar power is timely, coming as the stimulus package was signed into law. Energy experts are marveling at the array of tax benefits aimed at bringing more renewable energy online quickly, such as provisions that provide federal loan guarantees and accelerated depreciation for renewable projects.

"In these dismal times, we've got to look for some bright spots, and to me a great bright spot is the stuff that's involved with renewable energy in that stimulus bill," said Art Harrington, an energy lawyer with Godfrey & Kahn in Milwaukee.

Godfrey hosted three meetings across the state this week that drew about 500 businesspeople looking to learn more about economic opportunities created by the stimulus law, Harrington said.

"My advice to clients is to get knowledgeable on this stimulus bill," he said. "Get knowledgeable quickly and then follow the money."

Upcoming Energy Events at UW-Madison

Tuesday, March 3
Contributions of Climate Science to the Electric Power Industry:Forecasting with Lead Times of Hours to Decades
PSERC Public Tele-seminar

Tuseday, March 10
Renewable Petroleum™ Products and Technologies: Building Micro-refineries for Simple Low-Cost Fuel and Chemical Production
LS9, Inc.

Tuseday, April 21
Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis on Co Supported on Modified Aluminas
Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)

RENEW & Clean WI submit comments to support higher buy-back rates for small renewable installations

The comments of RENEW and Clean Wisconsin expess support for the PSC to order utilities to pay higher prices (rates) for electricity they purchase from the owners of small renewable electricity installations, such as wind turbines, solar panels, and anaerobic biodigesters.

The reasons for higher buy-back rates the comments say are:

based on the barriers distributed generators face in a centralized power environment. Past energy policy has had the effect of creating a landscape of economic effects that thwart investment in renewable energy capacity, making progress dependent on future emission, environmental and tax policies. Uncertainty about future policies is likely to cause investors to delay investment in renewable energy until such policies become clear, coherent, and economically rational. The current policy landscape is especially slanted toward larger installations (100 MW or greater) because of their economies of scale. If Wisconsin is to nurture a distributed generation market, the logical place to intervene is through utility buyback rates. All current utility buyback rates for distributed generation, except a few recent experimental rates, provide marginal compensation for distributed generation. This situation is especially acute for variable output renewable generators that supply energy, but not capacity, such as wind and solar electric (in single installations).

For comments of several other organizations, go to the list of submitted documents on the PSC Web site.

We Energies seeks proposals for renewable energy R&D grants

From the solicitation announcement from We Energies:

We Energies offers grants under its Renewable Energy Research and Development (R&D) Grant Program to its business and not-for-profit electric customers as well as to organizations teamed with We Energies business and not-for-profit electric customers. This program offers financial assistance in the form of a grant to conduct research on renewable energy technologies, or to help demonstrate a renewable energy product or technology. Areas of research that will receive the highest funding priority include work in the following areas:

1. Improving existing renewable energy technologies such as wind, solar, and biomass.
2. Expanding renewable distributed-generation technologies and related technologies, such as energy storage and smart grid technologies that directly benefit the integration and distribution of renewable energy onto the grid.
3. Developing renewable energy technologies, products and services that provide more affordable electricity and improved reliability.
4. Conducting longer-term research on advanced renewable technologies that will help meet tomorrow's electricity needs and contribute positively to the renewable energy industry.

A proposed research project must be located within We Energies electric service territory, or if not located within the service territory it must clearly provide local benefits to the electric service territory. Grants are not intended to offset the cost of purchasing small renewable systems such as a residential photovoltaic installations and/or a small wind turbine on a farm, but rather are intended for research and development endeavors that will clearly advance a technology or product, and will clearly contribute positively to the renewable energy industry. . . .

We Energies offers grant funds up to a maximum grant of $200,000 per project. Although matching funds are not required for this grant program, any additional funding that can be added to the proposal is considered a favorable element of the project and increases the chances for a successful grant. In addition, as noted above, We Energies grant funds may potentially be used as matching funds toward a larger state or federal grant program, provided project activities meet this program’s requirements and intent. Only one R&D grant will be awarded per applicant per program year. Exceptions will be made for Universities and similar type organizations where separate project applications may be received from different departments within the organization in one calendar year. In those cases, only one successful grant will be awarded to a specific department in a calendar year. . . .

How do I apply for a grant?
Complete and submit the application. The application requires a scope of work that describes the goals of your study, the tasks or deliverables that will be accomplished, a timeline and budget for each task/deliverable, and your qualifications (and those of your team, if applicable). If a consultant or outside entity will perform all or a portion of the work, a scope of work and associated materials must be received on their letterhead and signed by the person(s) committing to complete the study. If you’re an organization teaming with a We Energies electric customer, a letter of commitment from all parties, describing the
relationship and roles of each party, also must be included in your application. . . .

More information:
Amy Flom
amy.flom@we-energies.com
262-893-6162