Biomass | Berlin Project
Plans are underway to construct a new biomass-energy facility on the site of the former Fraser Paper Mill located in Berlin, New Hampshire. It is hoped that this biomass power plant will be one of the largest and most environmentally sound facilities in the United States.
The project is being headed by alternative energy power plant developer Laidlaw Energy Group Inc. who has agreed to buy the paper mill. The capacity of the Berlin Biomass-Energy Project is expected to be 65MW and will utilize over 700,000 tons of wood chips per year, generating substantial local economic activity for loggers, truckers and other businesses.
This fuel source is the wood waste by-product of the local forest products industry. Essentially, it will be the otherwise unusable tree waste such as the tops and branches of trees that are harvested for lumber. Additionally, other wood waste such as sawdust from sawmills will be suitable to fuel the power plant. The locally sourced fuel will be trucked in to the facility, but there is also rail access which offers the opportunity to occasionally bring in fuel cheaply and in an environmentally friendly way from other parts of the country.
The project involves a capital investment of more than $100 million from Laidlaw and other investors, which is being managed by HH Capital Advisors LLC, a North Hampton, N.H.-based real estate investment firm. The financing is expected to be accomplished in two stages with the first stage totalling around $8 million to cover asset acquisition and initial development of the project. The balance will be used one year later for the actual construction of the Berlin Project.
There are some concerns about the new facility being voiced by concerned Berlin residents and city officials with opponents claiming the facility will be an eyesore that will prevent Berlin reinventing itself as an outdoor recreation community with the main sticking point apparently being a 320-foot smokestack left over from the paper mill.
Laidlaw is still to submit an application to the New Hampshire Site Evaluation Committee, a branch of the Department of Environmental Services that sites energy plants. The process to clear this part of the development takes about eight months.
It looks as though there is still much ground to cover before the Berlin Project becomes a reality.
August 1st, 2008 at 8:40 pm
You are absolutely correct in yoru conclusion that there is much ground to cover before the Laidlaw Berlin project becomes a reality. A recent survey of local residents showed little appetite for industrial development on that site. The opposition Laidlaw’s plans in Berlin are based on Laidlaws abominable track record with small towns, as well as the specific location of the proposed plant. It would be within a block of city hall and the downtown area, and if you understood the spectacular beauty of the spot, you’d have a better understanding of the opposition. There are many less visible and far more appropriate spots for a biomass plant in Berlin. As an entrepreneur building a business in the North Country, I’d have to move my offices out of Berlin if this plant goes in, just to preserve the health of my employees. The transmission lines would run right past our offices and I’m not willing to subject them to the health risks, never mind the noise and whatever output the stack will have.