ReEnergy to restart Ashland biomass plant
ReEnergy Holdings LLC, the New York-based owner of four biomass plants in Maine and a construction and demolition material processing facility in Lewiston, plans to restart its shuttered Ashland facility by the end of the year.
The 39-megawatt Ashland facility, which has been idled since March 2011, will be fully operational by December, the company said Monday in a press release.
The resumption of operations will restore 25 direct jobs and an estimated 150 indirect jobs associated with the facility, many of them related to the supply of the forest residue fuel supply to the facility and additional jobs tied to local goods and services related to the facility, the company stated in its release. At full production levels, the facility purchases more than $16 million annually in fuel from local loggers. When considering the payrolls of the direct and indirect jobs along with taxes paid by ReEnergy Ashland, the annual economic impact on the region is well in excess of $20 million.
The Ashland biomass plant, which opened in 1993, generates renewable energy from green forest residue biomass and unadulterated wood and is capable of producing approximately 284,000 MWh of electricity each year — enough to supply nearly 37,000 homes. It was acquired by ReEnergy Holdings in December 2011 as part of a multi-facility portfolio purchase from Boralex Industries Inc.
ReEnergy has achieved certification to the Sustainable Forestry Initiative® standard for biomass facilities it is operating in Maine and New York. ReEnergy will seek similar certification for the Ashland facility, and this certification will provide third-party verification that ReEnergy’s biomass procurement program promotes land stewardship and responsible forestry practices.
ReEnergy owns and operates three other biomass-to-energy facilities in Maine: ReEnergy Stratton (48 MW); ReEnergy Livermore Falls (39 MW); and ReEnergy Fort Fairfield (37 MW). With Ashland operating, ReEnergy will employ more than 140 people in Maine and support more than 1,000 direct and indirect jobs.
The company stated the restart of the Ashland facility has been made possible “due to a confluence of factors, including an increased need for electric grid stability in northern Maine, availability of transmission capacity, a growing need for a local outlet for mill and forest residues and energy market changes.”
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