Southern Company starts commercial operation of 100MW biomass plant

Southern Company has announced the commencement of commercial operations at its 100MW biomass plant located near Sacul in Nacogdoches County in the state of Texas, US.

The biomass fueled base-load facility, the Nacogdoches generating facility, provides sufficient electricity to power around 60,000 homes.

Southern Power, a subsidiary of Southern Company owns and operates the 100MW Nacogdoches generating facility which represents a capital investment of about a half-billion dollars.

The company started constructing the plant in November 2009 and has achieved the commercial operations as per the schedule.

Southern Company president, chairman and CEO Thomas A Fanning said the company recognised the on-time, on-budget completion of the nation’s largest biomass-fueled power plant.

"This is an important milestone for the community, the city of Austin and Southern Company, as the plant provides jobs and economic impact for Nacogdoches County and further diversifies the fuel portfolios of Austin Energy and Southern Company to strengthen our nation’s energy independence," Fanning added.

Austin Energy under a 20-year power purchase agreement is buying the energy produced from the plant.

The biomass facility uses the new technology such as a bubbling fluidized-bed boiler that allows a wide range of biomass fuels to produce energy and also reduce the emissions from the plant.

The plant processes non-merchantable wood waste to generate electricity including saw mill or other wood mill production waste, forest waste, pre-commercial thinnings of cultivated trees, diseased, non-commercial tree species, urban wood waste and other non-commercial logging-derived biomass etc.

US based Southern Company is an energy company producing electricity.