Following more than a year of study and planning, Xcel Energy announced on November 1 that it has filed an application for a Certificate of Authority with the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSCW) to install biomass gasification technology at its Bay Front Power Plant in Ashland, Wis. When completed, the project will convert the plant’s remaining coal-fired unit to biomass gasification technology, allowing it to use 100 percent biomass in all three boilers and making it the largest biomass plant in the Midwest. Currently, two of the three operating units at Bay Front use biomass as their primary fuel to generate electricity.

 

The project, estimated at $58 million, will require additional biomass receiving and handling facilities at the plant, an external gasifier, minor modifications to the plant’s remaining coal-fired boiler and an enhanced air quality control system. The total generation output of the plant is not expected to change significantly as a result of the project.  

 

“The Bay Front project demonstrates our continuing commitment to the environment and a clean energy future,” said Dick Kelly, president and CEO, Xcel Energy. “We're helping our customers and communities practice sustainability while increasing local economic development. By combining energy efficiency, advanced energy technologies, and improvements to existing generating resources, we're on track to reduce carbon dioxide in our Midwest service territories 22 percent from 2005 levels by 2020.”

 

The Bay Front Power Plant was originally constructed and began operation in 1916. In 1960, it operated five boilers and six turbines. Since then, two of the boilers, and three of the turbines, have been retired.  The three remaining boilers feed into a combined steam header system that can support three turbine-generator sets. During a major plant improvement project completed in 1991, the plant was equipped with an upgraded air quality control system, which includes two gravel bed filters designed to remove more than 98 percent of particulate matter.

 

Last year, Xcel Energy installed NOx (nitrogen oxide) emission control equipment on the two boilers that primarily burn wood, allowing both to continue to operate into the foreseeable future. When evaluating various alternatives for the remaining boiler, which primarily burns coal, it was determined that expanding Bay Front as a biomass resource was preferred over incurring significant environmental compliance costs relating to the Clean Air Interstate Rule and regulations on mercury emissions.

 

“This project continues our commitment to meet the needs of our customers in an environmentally responsible, sustainable manner,” said Mike Swenson, president and CEO, NSP-Wisconsin, an Xcel Energy company. “In addition to reducing carbon dioxide emissions, this project will drastically reduce other air emissions.”

 

When complete, the project will reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides by more than 60 percent, sulfur dioxides by more than 80 percent and particulate matter by more than 80 percent. In addition, displacing coal with sustainably harvested biomass will also reduce net carbon dioxide emissions, contributing to the company and state of Wisconsin’s carbon management goals.

 

The primary source of biomass at Bay Front is expected to be the lower quality, unused materials that are currently left in area forests following traditional harvests, such as treetops, logging slash, damaged trees, underutilized species, and the cull and mortality classed trees. Initial investigations conducted by Xcel Energy show more than ample supplies of this lower quality biomass within the area.

 

To ensure future biomass supplies are available on a reliable basis, Xcel Energy is working with the Wisconsin Office of Energy Independence, University of Wisconsin-Madison and local agricultural experts to explore the feasibility of developing biomass plantations and grower cooperatives.

 

“Xcel Energy has been a long-time leader in providing renewable energy from local sources to the citizens of Wisconsin,” said Michael Vickerman, executive director, RENEW Wisconsin.

 

Mark Redsten, executive director, Clean Wisconsin, agreed. “This project will both lessen Wisconsin's reliance on imported fossil fuels and propel us closer to the renewable energy goals of Gov. Doyle's Task Force on Global Warming,” Redsten said.

 

Following all state regulatory approvals, engineering and design work is expected to begin in 2010, and the unit could be operational by late 2012.


Xcel Energy is a major U.S. electricity and natural gas company with regulated operations in 8 Western and Midwestern states. Xcel Energy provides a comprehensive portfolio of energy-related products and services to 3.3 million electricity customers and 1.8 million natural gas customers through its regulated operating companies. Holding company headquarters are located in Minneapolis.