By TOM McLAUGHLIN
News & Record Staff
Halifax County hopes to attract a wood-burning power plant to the
industrial park it is developing at the county fairgrounds and former
Georgia-Pacific site, and already has a partner lined up in the
venture.
Mike Eades, executive director of the Halifax County Industrial
Development Authority, said this week that NOVI Energy, a
Michigan-based energy solutions firm, could ìtake an equity position
[in a new plant] or they could help develop it and sell it to someone
else.î Eades would not elaborate on the size of the proposed power
plant but called it ìsubstantialî and ìa nine-figureî project.
ìItís not like Clover, not that big Ö but itís substantial,î he said.
The IDA has submitted a preliminary study to the Chamber of Commerce
examining the feasibility of the project. Eades said the study shows
there is sufficient demand for power generation to justify the enormous
investment in such a project. The IDA did the study at the Chamberís
behest to avoid disclosure requirements under the Virginia Freedom of
Information Act, he said.
If built, the project would be similar to a wood-burning plant in Hurt,
Va., which was sold in 2004 to Dominion Virginia Power. The Hurt power
plant, an 80-megawatt, two-unit wood burning facility, was developed by
Multitrade of Pittsylvania County L.P.
Eades described the proposed project as ìwhat I call a merchant power
plant ó in other words, it not owned, at least not initially owned, by
a Dominion or anybody like that. Itís got power for sale to the grid.
It may turn out that someone takes out 100 percent [equity stake] like
a Dominion, or they might take 50 percent and sell the rest to others.î
The plant would be powered by wood scraps and timber wastes gathered
from around the region. The feasibility study showed the region has an
adequate supply of wood wastes to fuel such a plant, Eades said.
NOVI Energy (www.novienergy.com) bills itself as an energy management
services and infrastructure development company.  Its clients span a
broad range of industries, from automotive  to agricultural to steel.
The company provides energy saving solutions to clients and also
develops power generation facilities using alternative energy sources
such as biomass, clean coal technologies, solar, wind, hydrogen and
landfill gas.
The company is developing at least one other wood waste-burning
facility, a biomass-to-energy project in northern lower Michigan.
According to a company press release, ì[t]he design of the facility
will also consider the economic viability of a Combined Heat and Power
(ëCHPí) facility to supply steam to a neighboring thermal host.î
The IDA scheduled a press conference with NOVI Energy representatives
more than a month ago to discuss the prospects for a wood-burning plant
at the Georgia-Pacific/fairgrounds site before canceling the event
without explanation. Eades said he hoped a similar press conference
could be scheduled in ìthe next two to three weeks.î
He refused to speculate on the size of the plant, the potential number
of employees or the impact on the countyís tax base, citing proprietary
concerns.
But he said the IDA was close to embarking on ìPhase 2îof ìdoing the
detailed number crunching, the siting to put the package together.î
While the project could take years to complete, Eades said permits for
the project could be filed with state and federal agencies within six
months, followed by an estimated six months of review.
ìThis is not a short term project, it would take a number of years from
the time you decide to go into operation,î Eades said. While the
decision to build the plant has yet to be made, Eades said he was
optimistic about Halifax Countyís chances.
ìIím encouraged that it will happen ó the permitting [process], and
doing the plant,î he said.