Novo BioPower Extends Key Arizona Power Contracts
Arizona’s only major market for pulpwood and biomass and a key part of the state’s forest health solution, Novo BioPower in Snowflake recently signed new 10-year power off-take contracts that allow the company to continue operating. The contract renewals had taken some time and the plant was months away from running out of wood. At a recent stakeholders’ meeting, Novo BioPower CEO Brad Worsley said the Salt River Project and Arizona Public Service have now signed 10-year contracts to buy electricity generated by burning biomass. Snowflake biomass plant is the only one in the state large enough to take significant volumes of low grade wood, hog fuel and biomass.
The plant had taken a hit during the pandemic as costs increased, and recent inclement weather had led to low inventories with uncertainty of operations before the contracts were renewed. The facility has also been affected by the slow implementation of forest health projects due to a lack of forest industry infrastructure and logging capacity, and also the Forest Service taking a big “swing and a miss” at trying to develop and solicit for a massive 10-year forest stewardship contract to cover several million acres under the 4-Forests Restoration Initiative. The federal wildfire mitigation strategy in the state is now more of a traditional and manageable process of smaller stewardship projects and timber sales focused on forest restoration. Even with the new contracts, the Forest Service needs to continue funding to ensure that thinning work can continue, Worsley says.
Latest news
SPONSORED CONTENT: GreCon’s New Intelligent Extinguishing Module (IEM)
GreCon’s New Intelligent Extinguishing Module (IEM) SPONSORED CONTENT PROVIDED BY FAGUS GRECONCommon causes of fires in wood bioenergy production are heat, sparks, embers, and hot particles. One of the most efficient measures to prevent fire or dust explosion is the...
Logging Association Supports New Biorefinery Project
Logging Association Supports New Biorefinery Project The Great Lakes Timber Professionals Assn. (GLTPA) has voiced strong support for the Wisconsin Forestry Revitalization Bill, introduced by a trio of State Senators along with two State Representatives. The proposed...
USDA Focuses On Wildfire Risk
USDA Focuses On Wildfire Risk U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced the USDA Forest Service is investing $200 million in 58 projects through the Community Wildfire Defense Grant Program. These investments, thanks to Congressionally mandated funding,...
Drax Settles With MDEQ On Gloster Plant Violations
Drax Settles With MDEQ On Gloster Plant ViolationsDrax and the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) have reached a settlement in connection with Notices of Violation (NOV) at its Gloster, Miss. plant. The NOVs were due to the alleged permit...
Find Us On Social
Subscribe to Our Newsletter
Wood Bioenergy News Online hits the inboxes of subscribers in the wood-to-energy sectors.
Subscribe/Renew
Wood Bioenergy is published and delivered worldwide 6 times per year. Free to qualified readers in the U.S. Subscribers outside the U.S. are asked to pay a small fee.
Advertise
Complete the online form so we can direct you to the appropriate Sales Representative.