By Anna Austin
Biomass Power & Thermal

For nearly two years, FirstEnergy Corp. has been making plans to repower two units at its 312-megawatt R.E. Burger coal-fired power plant in Shadyside, Ohio, with biomass.

Permission to classify the project as renewable was granted by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio in August, despite opposition from some environmental groups. That would have allowed FirstEnergy to generate renewable energy credits under the state renewable portfolio standard, which is currently set at 12.5 percent renewable energy by 2025.

Once the project was completed, it would have become one of the largest biomass power plants in the country, requiring about 1 million tons of feedstock per year.  Initially, FirstEnergy announced a memorandum of understanding with Renewafuel LLC for a biomass cube supply, but the agreement fell through because the distance between the two facilities made it uneconomical to transport the cubed fuel (from upper Michigan to the Ohio River).

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