The North Fork Community Development Council is working with a project team to develop a small combined heat and power generation facility at the North Fork Mill Site. The project is a strategic step to develop economic uses for forest biomass material generated as a result of forest management and hazardous fuels treatment activities in our area.
Community Objectives: In developing a biomass power facility on the North Fork Mill Site, the Community Development Council (CDC) hopes to meet the following objectives:
• Create jobs for local residents.
• Create an income stream for the CDC to further promote Mill Site redevelopment.
• Support local subsidiary businesses such as biomass harvesting, chipping and transport.
• Beneficially utilize woody biomass being removed from surrounding public and private land for purposes of fire safety and/or ecological restoration.
• Have minimal noise and odor impacts to nearby residents and businesses.
• Provide opportunities for additional businesses that can utilize potential heat from the power plant, such as kiln dried wood products, greenhouses, etc.
• Generate renewable energy consistent with the state’s Renewable Portfolio Standard.
The CDC would provide the land for the project and is working with a development company, Reliable Renewables, LLC which will provide the financing, expertise, and technology.
Project Timeline: Currently, the CDC is working with the Reliable Renewables, LLC to develop a business model and a permitting plan. The target commercial operating date is the end of 2013.
Facility information: The proposed facility will generate about 1 megawatt (MW) of electricity which will be delivered to the grid or to local users on the Mill Site. This is enough electricity to power about 1,000 homes. Waste heat will be captured in a kiln and may be used to dry lumber, firewood, or for other business purposes. The facility will use about 22 tons of biomass fuel per day (about one large truckload), which will mostly be made up of chipped small-diameter timber and brush. This is wood that will be removed for fuel reduction projects and would otherwise be piled and burned in the forest. Woody material from both US Forest Service and private property will be used as fuel.
The facility will have to meet the very stringent emissions standards of the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District, and no waste water will be discharged. The proposed facility will not generate much noise, but there may be a chipping operation that will allow local residents to dispose of their woody waste for use in the bioenergy plant. This operation will be located near the existing lumber business on the Mill Site, and is expected to generate a similar amount of noise. Chipping operations at the Mill Site will not be ongoing, since most of the wood will be chipped in the forest where it is collected.
For more information on this project, contact: info@northforkcdc.org
North Fork Community Development Council, Inc.
PO Box 1484, North Fork, CA 93643 | 559.877.2244
