Power company eyes Avoca site for biomass electric power plant
By ROB PRICE THE COURIER-ADVOCATE

AVOCA - The market for alternative sources of energy is growing in Steuben County.

Not only are electric power companies working on developing wind turbine sites around the county, a Rochester-based power company is considering building an electric power plant in the Avoca area, using biomass fuel to generate the electricity.

Bell Independent Power Corp. already has applied to the Steuben County Industrial Development Agency for financial assistance in the construction of a 20 megawatt plant in the Town of Avoca.

The plant would burn wood chips harvested from rural logging operations in a highly efficient heating process known as fluidized bed combustion, according to Jerry Walter, chief financial officer. The process employs air injected underneath the biomass to suspend the fuel while it burns. Sand is periodically blasted across the surface of the burning chips to clear the charcoal, or "char," and continue the high-efficiency combustion.

The resulting heat converts water into steam that then drives turbines to generate electricity.

Walter noted the company would not initiate logging operations in order to produce the wood fuel. Rather, it would follow ongoing logging operations to clear areas of wood detritus. "It's a forest-thinning and managing plan," he said, adding wood chips have been identified as a renewable energy source and promoted by the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

James Sherron, SCUD executive director, said tentative plans call for the plant to be built on land owned by the New Avoca Natural Gas Project, an economic development effort to convert underground salt deposits into storage space for natural gas.

"It's a great opportunity," Sherron said. "There are 1,000 acres dedicated to the caverns, an (electric) substation up there, and a rail station below that's easily reached."

If the project goes forward, Sherron added, SCIDA may provide financial assistance to Bell Independent Power and possibly serve as lead agent for the environmental review process.