USDA Loan Guarantee For Electric Plant Using Waste Wood
This may be a little different but, hey, it’s an alternative to what we think of as traditional fuel. How about using “waste wood” as a biomass fuel source?
Agriculture Under Secretary for Rural Development Thomas Dorr today announced a $16 million loan guarantee to help finance construction of an electrical generating plant in rural Arizona that will use wildfire-damaged timber along with waste wood and paper fiber from a nearby paper mill as a fuel source. The announcement marks the first time that USDA has made a loan guarantee through its Rural Development Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency program.
“This project supports President Bush’s comprehensive national energy policy,” said Dorr. “Renewable energy is a top priority for the nation and for USDA. As we expand generating capacity through projects like this one, we not only convert into electricity a fuel source that would otherwise go to waste, we broaden our energy options and through construction of this plant, provide a source of new jobs to Arizona.”
Rural Development funds will guarantee a $16 million loan to Snowflake White Mountain Power, LLC of Snowflake, Arizona. The company will build a 20-megawatt biomass electrical generating plant 17 miles from the community. The $23 million generating plant will use wildfire-damaged timber from the 450,000 acre Rodeo-Chediski fire, along with waste from the nearby Abitibi Paper Mill as a fuel source. The timber that was damaged by wildfire will be sold to the company under contracts with the U.S. Forest Service as part of its Healthy Forest Initiative.