First vessel with ‘green energy’ from Georgia (US) at the port of Dordrecht
Den Bosch – The first sea-going vessel (Falcon Traveller) carrying wood chips from the American city of Georgia has arrived in the Netherlands. The wood chips will be used at Essent's Amer Power Plant to produce green energy and for large-scale replacement of coal as a fuel.
By using wood chips (wood pellets ) as a fuel for the production of sustainable energy, approximately 85 percent less CO2 is emitted than when fossil fuel, such as coal, is used. In total, Essent’s use of this biomass will result in annual savings of one million tonnes of CO2.
Through the large-scale use of wood chips, Essent is the largest producer of green energy in the Netherlands: almost 25% of all sustainable energy is produced in Essent's power plants and wind farms. "Without the use of biomass, in this case wood pellets, the Netherlands would absolutely not be able to achieve its goals. If, in this way, we make smart use of the enormous surplus of sustainable biomass in, amongst others, the United States, we are able to take the necessary steps towards becoming more sustainable and to CO2 reduction. In addition to that, the co-conversion and co-firing of wood chips is currently also the most cost-effective manner of sustainable energy production,” said Peter Terium, CEO of Essent.
Largest biomass power plant in Europe
The wood pellets that are produced in Georgia are, in the first instance, intended for use at Essent's Amer Power Plant (1,245 MW) in Geertruidenberg, where around 30% biomass is currently already co-fired. Essent has plans in place to, in the near future, further increase this percentage in the Amer 9 unit to 50% and in the Amer 8 unit, in the slightly longer term, to 80%. From a technical point of view, the Amer Power Plant is able to grow to almost 100% biomass. Just 5 percent coal would then still be needed, which would act as a sort of firelighter, in order to ensure that the power plant continues to operate properly. The remaining 95% can then consist of biomass for producing green energy for millions of households.
Made in America
The wood chips that arrived today were produced in the largest wood pellet factory in the world, built by Essent’s parent company RWE in the American city of Waycross, in the State of Georgia, an investment of 120 million Euros.
The annual production capacity of the factory in Georgia is 750,000 tonnes of wood pellets. Those are brought to the Netherlands in approximately 38 shipments. Each year, Essent’s Amer Power Plant used almost a million tonnes of biomass.
Published: 01 July 2011