IP Considers Biomass CoGen Plant

International Paper Co. (IP) and Sterling Planet Holdings are in talks to evaluate installation of a biomass-fueled power plant at IP’s pulp and paperboard mill in Riegelwood, N.C., at a cost of $130 to $160 million, according to a Sterling executive, the Star NewsOnline reports.

Wood scraps and forest waste will replace residual fuel oil at IP’s 58-year-old Riegelwood Mill if talks succeed, says Boyd Andrews, an executive with Sterling Planet’s asset development team.

Sterling is proposing a combined 40 MW to 45 MW cogeneration plant that would provide steam to the mill and generate renewable electricity for sale under a long-term contract to a utility, Andrews says. It will use wood waste from the mill and forest trimmings, he says.

IP spokesperson Kim Gill says Riegelwood now uses bark, sawdust, heavy fuel oil and natural gas to produce process steam and more than half the mill’s electricity needs. It buys the rest of its power from Progress Energy.

Gill says with the new power plant the mill will continue generating about half its electricity needs with some steam from the new plant ,while using the rest to operate its three pulp and packaging paperboard machines.

The new cogeneration plant could begin operations in 2013 if talks succeed over the next six to nine months, IP says in a statement.

Sterling, based in Norcross, Ga., expects to build, own and manage the new Riegelwood plant, Andrews says, employing the IP staff that operates its present power plant.

Andrews says Sterling focuses on power plants using renewable or sustainable fuels designed to replace plants emitting carbon dioxide, adding that this is the team's third project.