2 wood-to-electricity plants on tap for Georgia

Georgia, already a national leader in turning wood into electricity, could get two more wood-burning power plants by 2015, in a plan announced Thursday by Gov. Sonny Perdue.

Tucker-based Oglethorpe Power Corp., the nation’s largest power supplier to co-ops, is ready to spend about $1 billion to build the plants. They would generate enough electricity from Georgia wood to power between 100,000 and 120,000 homes. A third plant is under consideration.

The company is reviewing five sites for the first two plants, all close to tree farms in Middle Georgia and South Georgia. Two are in Washington County, east of Macon; one is in Warren County near Augusta; and the other two are in South Georgia’s Appling and Echols counties.

Perdue called Oglethorpe’s commitment a “pioneering investment that will transform the way we provide clean and renewable energy to Georgians.”

Michael Price, Oglethorpe’s chief operating officer, said the cost of wood is “comparable” to the industry’s main fuel sources, coal and nuclear.

Each plant is expected to employ 40 people, and spend about $30 million a year to buy trees and wood waste.

Five other energy companies, including Georgia Power, have announced plans to build six wood-to-electricity plants here. In addition, two cellulosic ethanol companies are racing to build the nation’s first plant that will turn wood into fuel for cars and trucks.

Here’s why: Georgia has about 24 million acres of fast-growing trees, comprising nearly two-thirds of the state.

It’s the “Saudi Arabia of biomass,” says Glenn Farris, president and chief executive officer of Biomass Gas & Electric. His company wants to build a wood-to-electricity plant in Forsyth County.

While cellulosic ethanol is still in the research phase, studies show it will be more efficient than producing ethanol from corn.

Steve McWilliams, vice president of the Georgia Forestry Association, which represents tree farmers, loggers and forest product companies, said if he owned timberland right now, “I would be very encouraged about these developments.”

In November, voters will have a chance to give tree farmers an even bigger boost. If it passes, a referendum on the ballot would change the state constitution to tax forests based on actual use rather than market value, giving a property tax break to those who own more than 2,000 acres of forest land.

State and company officials said Oglethorpe will not receive any special tax breaks or incentives to build its plants.

But because the company plans to burn biomass it will be exempt from the state’s sales and use tax.

Price said the electricity generated by the plants could be sold to the state’s electric cooperatives through the Green Power EMC program. Co-op customers who sign up pay $3 to $5 more a month for green energy.

Depending on where the plants are built, water to produce the steam will come either from underground aquifers, rivers or industrial discharge. Each plant will consume — or evaporate — 1.1 million to 1.7 million gallons of water a day, about the same amount used by the city of Buford.

Burning wood for electricity is cleaner than burning coal, but dirtier than burning natural gas. The biggest pollution concerns are carbon emissions, which have been linked to global warming, and particulate matter, or soot. Soot can be controlled.

The plants will need to be permitted by the state Environmental Protection Division.