The Colorado Governor’s Office of Energy Management and Conservation (OEMC), Aquila Inc., and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announce two measures underway at the W.N. Clark Generating Station, owned by Aquila and located in Canon City, Colorado. First, the plant is replacing part of the coal with biomass from local forest thinning operations. Second, the plant plans to sell the environmental benefits achieved by this project by issuing Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs). This is the first time that forest-derived biomass is used in RECs that are sold in a voluntary market.
Aquila recently received EcoPower certification for electricity produced from forest-derived biomass. The biomass is being co-fired with coal in the existing stoker system. Only that amount of power attributable to the biomass will be certified as EcoPower. Environmental Resources Trust (ERT) issued its approval based on the significant net environmental benefits realized from replacing a portion of coal with biomass in the co-firing process. Replacing coal with biomass as a portion of the fuel mix reduces sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides and carbon dioxide emissions.
RECs represent the environmental attributes of renewable energy generation, but they do not include the actual power generated. Unlike electricity, RECs can be sold beyond the boundaries of a utility’s service area, expanding the green power market and making it possible for people anywhere to support green power options.
The sale of forest RECs will help Aquila recover the additional costs associated with introducing this renewable fuel source. Biomass from forest thinning operations is more expensive than coal, due to comparatively high costs of transporting and processing the biomass to the power plant.
The biomass used at Aquila consists of small wood chips that are a by-product of forest fire mitigation activities. The U.S. Forest Service, state and local governments, and landowners are conducting “forest thinning” operations to reduce the threat of wildfire. Thinning typically results in piles of slash and brush that, by necessity, must be burned in place as a cost effective means of disposal.
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