National Clean Fuels and the Center for Environment, Commerce and Energy (The Center) has announced that planning has begun on their Port Gibson Biomass-to-Electricity (BTE) Project in Mississippi.
The scoping process has already begun on the project, which calls for a new BTE plant to be built in the City of Port Gibson, Miss. Plans call for the new plant to generate electricity by gasifying sawdust and woodchips to power a massive turbine.
NACF inked a letter of intent with the city last month to devise plans for biomass and solar-energy production in and around the municipality as well as other potential means of green energy production.
The Center, which signed an option agreement with NACF earlier this month, will assist in the planning and implementation of the project. NACF expects to announce project engineers for the new plan soon.
"This project's planning phase should take us through the end of the year, with implementation scheduled for the first quarter of 2011," said NACF President and CEO Maurice Stone.
"Currently, we're investigating our options in obtaining an interconnection agreement with local energy providers to get the new plant on the grid."
Recently, the State of Mississippi has made increasing clean-fuel production and usage a priority. State lawmakers have authorized $51 million in new incentives to help bring three biofuel plants to the state.
These incentives, along with an existing $30 million loan from the state, add up to an $81 million incentive package.
"Mississippi has been blessed with abundant biomass fuels," Stone said. "The state is ready to capitalize on these resources, and we believe that this woodchip-fired turbine plant will be a big part of those plans."
