Power Plant Developments

DAPP GENERATING STATION
GENESEE POWER STATION
GRAYLING GENERATING STATION
HILLMAN POWER COMPANY
VALLEY POWER COMPANY

Dapp Generating Station

Dapp Generating Station, located north and west of the City of Westlock, Alberta, is a 17 megawatt facility relocated from California in 1998. Its boiler is one-of-a-kind. Originally a Babcock & Wilcox circulating fluidized bed, it is has been redesigned to a standard fluidized bed. It was owned and operated by Primary Power from 2001 to 2007.

The generator is by Electric Machinery, and the turbine is from Turbodyne.

Power generated at Dapp Generating Station is sold to TransAlta Utility Corporation under a 20-year power purchase agreement. BioFuels based in Edmonton provides the fuel, gathered and processed from waste wood generators.

Vital statistics

Electrical Capacity (net)	17 megawatts
Customer	TransAlta Utility Corp.
Boiler	Babcock & Wilcox
Bed Type	Circulating fluidized
Steam Pressure/Temp.	1250 psig/950 F
Generator	Electric Machinery
Turbine	Turbodyne
Staff	6 employees
Fuel Type	Peat & waste wood
Fuel Consumption	25 tonnes/hour
Annual Electricity Capacity	36,600 MWH
Fuel Supplier	Linaria Biomass Ass'n.

Genesee Power Station

A growing community needs more power and more landfill capacity. The Genesee Power Station in Genesee Township’s Dort-Carpenter Industrial Park northeast of Flint, Michigan is an innovative solution to both of these needs. Primary Power was instrumental in its construction and operation until 2008.

A co-generation facility that produces saleable steam in addition to electricity, Genesee Power Station burns up to 700 tons of wood waste each day that would otherwise end up in landfills.

Since February, 1996 this 35-megawatt power plant has been cleanly and safely consuming waste wood to generate enough electricity for 25,000 homes, diverting thousands of tons destined for landfills to instead power homes and businesses throughout Genesee County.

Wood fuel consists of waste wood from tree-trimming and land-clearing, construction sites, building demolition, furniture production, wooden pallets and crates. Mid-Michigan Recycling, a waste wood processor located five minutes from the power station, provides the recycled material. Before the construction and demolition fuel is delivered to the plant it is carefully sorted, screened, shredded and washed in accordance with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality stipulations.

State-of-the-art steam and electricity generating technology cleanly and efficiently convert the waste into useful energy. Sophisticated electronic equipment monitors plant operations from fuel intake to electricity production. Air emissions are continuously monitored to ensure compliance with regulations.

Genesee Power Station was developed by Primary Power, which first developed an urban wood waste market to provide the fuel relative to stringent EPA standards: Another example of Primary Power's ability to solve complex problems by bringing together technical, regulatory and business components in a creative way.

The power station is a valuable part of the Genesee County economy. It is an innovative solution that addresses both the needs of a growing community for power and for waste wood disposal. It is owned by the Genesee Power Station Limited Partnership (GPSLP), a partnership of Primary Power and CMS Generation. It sells electricity to Consumers Energy under a 35-year contract approved by the Michigan Public Service Commission. The plant is jointly operated by Primary Power and CMS Generation, a subsidiary of Dearborn, Michigan-based Consumers Energy

Vital statistics

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Grayling Generating Station

This 36.2-megawatt, $70-million project located near the town of Grayling in northern Michigan burns waste wood from local sawmills and the forest products industry. It’s achievements were formally recognized. In 2007 it received the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality’s Clean Corporate Citizen designation for environmental compliance for a second time. In 1993 it received the prestigious Power Magazine Power Plant Award for application of fresh ideas and new technology to minimize environmental impact and maximize efficiency. The project was cited as an outstanding example of a power plant harmonious with its host community.

Grayling Generating Station was put into commercial operation in August 1991. Helped construct and operate this project as a partner in Grayling Generating Station Limited Partnership (GGSLP) that included CMS Generation, and Decker Energy. It sells electricity to Consumers Energy under a 35-year contract approved by the Michigan Public Service Commission.

Wood fuel is supplied by neighboring AJD Forest Products, which operates the largest sawmill in Michigan. Wood sources are within 50 miles of the plant and include sawdust and other mill wastes, residue (tops and limbs) from logging operations, wood chips, and clean wood waste recovered from area landfills. Over 95 percent of all the wood burned is waste material or a byproduct of another operation.

In 2001 Grayling Generating Station was granted a permit to utilize tire-derived fuel (TDF) as a wood fuel supplement at a rate of approximately 45 tons per day. TDF is a high-BTU fuel, processed from scrap tires, that improves boiler efficiency and flame stabilization.

Consistent with this recycling theme, much of the water used for cooling in the facility is supplied by the City of Grayling from highly treated effluent from its sewage treatment plant. The arrangement provides the city with an outlet for excess effluent and a stable supply of coolant for the plant.

The Grayling facility was constructed by a consortium of Black & Veatch, Townsend & Bottum, and Christman Company under a fixed-price turnkey contract. It was completed nearly three months ahead of schedule and within budget, meeting or exceeding all performance guarantees.

The facility employs commercially proven technology. It has a single stoker-type boiler manufactured by Zurn Industries. The steam turbine generator was supplied by Asea Brown Boveri. To meet state and federal environmental standards, air pollution control equipment includes an electrostatic precipitator made by Joy Environmental to control particulate matter, and a nitrogen oxides reduction system from Nalco FuelTech.

The project is operated under contract by CMS Generation. The plant employs 27 workers in operation and maintenance and dozens more in wood fuel processing and trucking. The facility provides an economic outlet for disposal of waste materials from local sawmills and forest products industries, helping keep their costs down and solving local solid-waste disposal problems.

Grayling Generating Stations is one of the largest property taxpayers in the Crawford County region.

It took nearly 10 years to get the Grayling Power Station started. Primary Power conceived and negotiated the innovative fuel supply and ownership arrangements with AJD Forest Products. The project was financed with a combination of $50 million of tax-exempt bonds, $9 million of taxable debt, and $11 million of equity supplied by the partnership.

Barclays Bank provided taxable debt and the letter of credit to back the tax-exempt bonds. The investment firms of Goldman, Sachs & Co. and R. W. Baird & Co. underwrote the bond offering.

This project is a model of sustainable development and environmental efficiency, disposing of 250,000 tons of wood waste a year.

Primary Power began project development in 1982. The key challenge was obtaining regulatory approval of the power contract in a convoluted environment where Primary Power had to compete with 25 other projects for capacity allocation, a five-year process. Primary Power conceived and negotiated the innovative fuel supply and ownership arrangements with AJD Forest Products.

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Hillman Power Company

Located in the village of Hillman, Michigan, the 18-megawatt Hillman Power Company pioneered the use of tire derived fuel (TDF) in Michigan, and as a supplement to traditional wood fuels. In addition to 650 tons of waste wood per day, the plant consumes 37 tons per day of TDF. Even the resulting ash finds use as a daily cover at a local landfill. It was owned and operated by Primary Power for 12 years.

The plant utilizes strict air and water emission controls to comply with the rules and regulations mandated by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and the EPA. An electrostatic precipitator, a urea injection system to control nitric oxides (NOx), and a continuous emission monitoring for NOx, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and particulates ensures accurate compliance.

Hillman Power Company is one of Primary Power’s five wholly-owned generating stations, purchased in 1996. Trust Company of the West, New York, provided financing.

The Hillman power plant was built in 1987 and began operation in January of 1988. It was designed by the Harris Group and was built by Stockmar Energy, which later became LFC Power Systems. It features a Foster Wheeler boiler, a Detroit Stoker hydrograte, and a GE steam turbine/generator to produce electricity for Consumers Energy.

Hillman Power Company has utilized TDF since 1992 and has diverted millions of tires from growing piles of scrap tires that mar the landscape, helping prevent health and environmental hazards. In the process the plant has proven the safety and efficiency of TDF as a wood fuel supplement.

TDF is supplied by Primary Fuels, LLC, another Primary Power wholly owned subsidiary.

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Valley Generating Facility

The 12 megawatt facility’s move to Alberta came in 1996 when logging near North Fork, California was prohibited to protect spotted owl habitat and the plant’s fuel supply ended.

At Drayton Valley, the plant was re-commissioned in 1997 by Yankee Energy for Drayton Valley Power Ltd. It was owned and operated by Primary Power from 2001 to 2007.

Although used, the 50’s vintage equipment is in fine operating order, featuring a General Electric turbine generator and a Wickes Boiler Co. boiler, which was retrofitted with a bubbling fluidized bed when reconstructed at the site in California. It was the first facility of the Drayton Valley Power Income Fund, and was the subject of its initial public offering (IPO) in 1997.

The plant, located approximately 100 miles southwest of Edmonton, operates under a 20-year power purchase agreement with TransAlta Utilities Corporation. Its fuel consists of waste wood generated at a nearby Weyerhaeuser mill that manufactures oriented strand board (OSB) and lumber.

Vital statistics

Electrical Capacity (net)	12 megawatts
Customer	TransAlta Utility Corp.
Boiler	Wickes Boiler Co.
Bed Type	Bubbling fluidized
Steam Pressure/Temp.	850 psig/825 F
Turbine/Generator	General Electric
Staff	20 employees
Fuel Type	Waste wood
Annual Wood Use	180,000 tons
Annual Electricity Capacity	85,750 MWH
Fuel Supplier	Weyerhauser