Biomass Projects

Biomass Studies show that our service territory has good biomass resource potential. Typical sources of biomass include agricultural or animal residues, wood residues, municipal discards and dedicated energy crops. We are taking advantage of this potential by conducting biomass trials at our facilities, signing contracts to purchase more than 400 MW of electricity generated from biomass, and partnering with local research organizations to develop new technologies.

Biomass Trials:

• Wood Waste Co-Firing Trial
  We have conducted biomass co-firing trials at the Sutton Plant near Wilmington, N.C. Co-firing involves burning a blend of biomass – an organic, renewable fuel – with the power plant’s traditional fuel to produce steam or electricity.
• Advanced Torrefied Wood Co-Firing Trial
  We have worked and continue to work with local universities and companies on the development and commercialization of a pretreatment process for wood biomass called torrefaction.  Torrefaction improves the physical properties of biomass fuel to make possible a greatly expanded use of biomass co-firing at existing power plants.  Once commercialized, this technology could potentially allow sustainably-produced, carbon-neutral wood biomass to displace a significant portion of the coal consumed at any existing coal power plant.  We are currently preparing to conduct the world’s first large-scale co-firing trial of torrefied wood at the Cape Fear Plant near Moncure, NC.

Contracts to purchase biomass power:

• Wood Waste Biomass
  • 75-MW contract with Biomass Gas & Electric for a plant to be built in Central Florida.
  • 60-MW contract with FP Energy for a plant to be built in the Tampa Bay region of Florida.
  • 45-MW contract with Biomass Gas & Electric for a plant to be built in Central Florida.
  • 25-MW contract with Coastal Carolina Clean Power for a plant that replaces coal-fired plant in Duplin County, N.C.
• Other types of biomass
  • 117-MW E-Grass™ Power Plant
    We have signed a contract with Florida Biomass Investment Group for a power plant fueled by a giant reed resembling bamboo and trademarked as E-grass.
  • 40-MW Co-Generation Power Plant
    We have signed a contract with Vision Power for plant that will use Sweet Sorghum as its fuel source.
  • 60 MW Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) Power Plant
    We have signed a contract with Horizon Energy from a plant that will gasify municipal solid waste.

Research Partnerships

• Biomass Inventory and Potential
  The Florida Energy Office awarded USF’s Power Center for Utility Explorations and Progress Energy a $70,000 grant to review the feasibility of generating power using biomass, understand issues associated with collection and use of biomass, and assess the biomass
• Micro-Turbine with Biofuels
  We have partnered with the University of Florida in an FDEP program to demonstrate the Power, Water Extraction and Refrigeration (PoWER) distributed energy system. This system, patented by the University of Florida, combines a novel semi-closed gas turbine with a vapor absorption refrigeration system in a way that enables several potential system benefits. These benefits include fuel flexibility using bio-derived and conventional fuels, very low emissions, high efficiency, high part-load efficiency and quad-generation capability. The PoWER system demonstration plan also includes a vapor absorption refrigeration system designed to provide air conditioning in addition to cooling the gas turbine flow at the main compressor inlet. The current project is to include grid connection support by our company and exploration of DSM strategies using this technology.

Landfill gas

Methane gas is generated when organic material decomposes under anaerobic conditions. In recent years, there has been increased interest in utilizing the energy potential of this gas.

• 1-MW Landfill Gas Plant
  We purchase approximately 1 MW of electricity produced at a landfill gas site in western North Carolina. The Buncombe County Landfill Gas Project is part of the NC GreenPower program.
• 3.5-MW Landfill Gas Plant
  We purchase the output from a regional landfill located near New Bern, N.C.