Biomass News

On 11 May the US Department of Energy (DoE) Savannah River Operations Office (SR) and Ameresco held a ceremonial groundbreaking for construction of a new biomass heating plant project at DoE's Savannah River Site (SRS). The event will mark the start of phase two to the original energy savings performance contract (ESPC) to increase critical steam security and provide additional green power to…
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Sustainability software and data company Ecometrica has teamed up with Scotland's Rural College (SRUC) to de-risk the investment in the UK biomass energy industry by combining a powerful computer model with state of the art mapping software that will help fire up the UK's energy crop industry, with potential to unlock tens of millions of pounds of new investment. The Biomass Market Assessment…
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DONG Energy has entered into an agreement to divest its waste-fired Måbjerg combined heat and power (CHP) plant near Holstebro to the Danish utility companies Struer Forsyning Fjernvarme and Vestforsyning Varme. Thomas Dalsgaard, executive VP of DONG Energy Thermal Power, says: 'The divestment is part of our strategy to focus on the central power stations in Denmark. With the agreement…
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Renmatix, a technology licensor for the conversion of biomass into cellulosic sugar, has acquired existing assets of the former Mascoma 56,000ft2 manufacturing facility in Rome, New York. The new feedstock processing facility is dedicated to the first step in conversion to cellulosic sugar (from different types of biomass materials) utilising proprietary Plantrose process conditions. The facility…
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Phoenix Energy's joint venture, North Fork Community Power's project has been awarded a $4.9 million (€4.4 million) grant from the California Energy Commission (CEC), which will be used to build biomass gasification plant, as well as research into the emerging field of forest biomass utilisation. The plant will consume biomass sourced from forestry and fuel reduction activities from areas…
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In Hawaii, the US Department of the Army has launched a 45-day public comment period on its draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) for the construction and operation of a proposed 50MW renewable energy plant. Hawaiian Electric Company will build, own, operate and maintain the plant – known as the Schofield Generating Station– on over 8 acres of land leased from the Army. In…
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The Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB) has released a new draft standard which is an 'add-on certification module' to the RSB standard for biofuels and bio-products. Entitled 'Low iLUC Risk Biomass Criteria and Compliance Indicators', compliance with this new standard means producers will be able to demonstrate that biomass was produced with no indirect impact on food production or…
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Synthetic biology company Intrexon and FuturaGene, a wholly owned subsidiary of Suzano Papel e Celulose – the second largest producer of eucalyptus pulp in the world – have entered into an exclusive collaboration to increase biomass in eucalyptus and poplar trees. The collaboration will utilise Intrexon's platform to design complex, innovative gene constructs and FuturaGene's…
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Glenfarne Asset Company (GAC), a subsidiary of New York-based privately held energy and infrastructure firm Glenfarne Group, has launched Prime Energia which will establish a 400MW portfolio of power plants in Chile through a mix of brownfield acquisition and greenfield development. Prime Energia's recently acquired 50MW brownfield backup power plant in Chile is part of a broader 750MW power…
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Business energy company GDF Suez Energy UK has been awarded two new power purchase agreements (PPAs) – one by BWSC East Anglia (formerly ICENI Energy) and one by Templeborough Biomass Power Plant (formerly Brite Partnership (North East)). The first agreement is to buy electricity generated by the Snetterton biomass plant in Norfolk when it opens in late 2016. Operated by BWSC East Anglia…
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In Japan, Nippon Paper Industries and Mitsubishi have agreed to establish Nippon Paper Ishinomaki Energy Center, an electric power generation company that will build and operate a renewable power plant using a combination of biomass and coal in Ishinomaki City, Miyagi Prefecture. The new company will set up the electric power generation facility on the Hibarino site owned by Nippon Paper…
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Following an order placed in March 2013, Siwertell, part of Cargotec, has delivered, installed and commissioned two Siwertell ship unloaders at ABP's port of Immingham, UK. Manufactured and assembled in Italy, the type ST790-D screw type unloaders are equipped with slewable gantry tail conveyors. They will be used to discharge wood pellets and coal to supply the Drax power station. Both types of…
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Energia Reino Verde (ERV) has signed an agreement for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) supervision of the 12MW biomass power plant that will be co-located with the 834 hectare (2,060 acre) Giant King Grass (GKG) plantation project in Nicaragua. Viaspace owns a 50% interest in ERV, the special-purpose company that will own and operate the project. The other 50% is owned by…
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Albioma has signed final documentation relating to the acquisition of a 65% equity interest in Codora Energia, which owns a 48MW bagasse-fired cogeneration plant in the Brazilian state of Goiás. The plant, commissioned in 2011, backs onto a distillery that currently processes 1.6 million tonnes of sugarcane annually. The distillery is owned by Jalles Machado, the world's second-largest…
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