Proposed power plant in Perry County granted emissions permit by DNR

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has been changed to correct the number describing the plant's capacity.

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- A proposed wood-fueled power plant in Perry County has been issued an air emissions permit by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.

Construction could begin before the end of the year on the Perryville Renewable Energy Center, a $120 million facility adjacent to the Perryville Industrial Park, that will burn wood chips to produce electricity.

The developer is LG Biomass Missouri LLC of Houston, also known as Liberty Green Renewables.

The permit, issued May 14, "fully meets our needs to operate," said developer Jack Farley of Liberty Green Renewables. "We are happy with it."

The new 32-megawatt facility will produce enough electricity to supply 23,000 homes, Farley said. Traditional coal-fired power plants are typically 600 to 1,200 megawatts.

The new plant will create about 200 construction jobs during a two-year period and 25 full-time positions once operations begin.

The DNR air permit restricts the new Perryville facility to firing its boiler with only untreated and unpainted wood products such as tree trimmings, mill residues and waste pallets. It also allows the plant to burn agricultural materials such as grain, grasses and crop residues.

The permit prohibits the burning of waste oil, tires, farm chemicals, pesticides and trash.

The facility's wood-fired boiler will have a 480 million BTU per-hour capacity and burn a maximum of 53 tons of wood chips per hour. The boiler will generate steam, which will be used to drive turbines to generate energy.

This project will help meet requirements set in 2008 when Missouri voters approved the Proposition C: Clean Energy Initiative, Farley said. That referendum requires a gradually increasing percentage of utilities' electricity to be generated from renewable energy sources such as wood, wind, solar or hydroelectric power.

Farley said the Perryville Renewable Energy Center will sell its power to Wabash Valley Power Association, a cooperative utility serving Perry and northern Cape Girardeau counties.

An additional Department of Natural Resources permit for storm-water drainage is required before construction can begin, Farley said. The company is working on the application now and is not expecting any problems receiving that permit, he said.

mmillersemissourian.com

388-3646

Pertinent Address:

393 Highway V, Perryville, MO

On the Web: access the permit online at http://www.dnr.mo.gov/env/apcp/air_permits.htm