Feasibility study for a forest-residue-fueled electric-generating plant. Final report, May 1981

Technical Report · Fri May 01 00:00:00 EDT 1981

OSTI ID:6281910

This study investigated the feasibility of locating and building a forest-residue-fueled electric generating plant in the heavily-forested, Western Cascades region of the upper Willamette Valley in Oregon. The quantity of forest residues that could be recovered, without competing with currently marketable forest products of greater value, was determined. Methods for removing, transporting, and processing the diseased boles, larger limbs, tops of trees, and broken chunks were investigated. The best means of storing and logging cull logs, chunks, and limbs over 6 inches in diameter and 6 feet long were investigated. The economics of various handling and processing methods were compared. A size and type of wood-fuel-fired boiler plant was selected that would operate in the full-condensing or cogeneration mode. A 50% extraction turbine-generator was used as the basis for economics calculations. The best combinations of components for this application were obtained from trade-off studies. The plant investment, total capital requirement, operating/maintenance costs and net busbar power costs were determined. A 24-MW power plant located in the vicinity of Oakridge, Oregon, would cost about $29,620,000 in January 1980 dollars. Due largely to high procurement and processing costs for forest residues, fuel costs were quite high (about $15.50/ton or $1.67/10/sup 6/ Btu as fired). For the Oakridge site, the net busbar power cost is 106 mills/kWh in the full-condensing mode of operation and 104 mills/kWh in the 50% extraction operating mode (at .67 capacity factor and steam sales price of $3/1000 pounds of steam). Busbar power costs levelized for a 10% discount rate and 6% inflation.

• Research Organization: Nor'West-Pacific Corp., Seattle, WA (USA)
• OSTI ID: 6281910
• Report Number(s): EPRI-CS-1819; TPS-79-742; ON: DE81903484
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS
09 BIOMASS FUELS
29 ENERGY PLANNING
POLICY AND ECONOMY
FOREST LITTER
SURVEYS
WASTE PRODUCT UTILIZATION
OREGON
WOOD-FUEL POWER PLANTS
ECONOMICS
FEASIBILITY STUDIES
CAPITAL
COGENERATION
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
ELECTRIC POWER
INFLATION
INTEREST RATE
INVESTMENT
MATERIALS HANDLING
PROCESSING
THERMAL POWER PLANTS
BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS
DEUS
ENERGY SYSTEMS
MATERIALS
NORTH AMERICA
PACIFIC NORTHWEST REGION
POWER
POWER GENERATION
POWER PLANTS
STEAM GENERATION
USA
200103* - Fossil-Fueled Power Plants- Waste-Fueled Systems
090400 - Solid Waste & Wood Fuels- (-1989)
296000 - Energy Planning & Policy- Electric Power
290800 - Energy Planning & Policy- Heat Utilization- (1980-)
299003 - Energy Planning & Policy- Unconventional Sources & Power Generation- Other- (-1989)