Koochiching Economic Development Authority Director Paul Nevanen and Koochiching County Commissioner Mike Hanson will travel to Pittsburgh to tour the Westinghouse plasma gasification facility next week.
The tour comes at a time when the feasibility study for the Renewable Energy Clean Air Project plasma gasification facility is nearing completion. Nevanen reports that a draft report should be completed in December and be ready for the county’s review. The final three tasks, out of a total of 15, in the study are underway. Nevanen said he expects by the end of the first quarter of 2010 the project’s fate will be decided by the county.
Westinghouse, the vendor for the project, extended the offer of the tour. Nevanen called the tour an “opportunity to go directly to the vendor, talk about upgrades, physically see how they flow, talk about the process, and talk to the engineering folks so that we can ask the right questions.”
Nevanen and Hanson will be joined by members of the project development partner Coronal, engineers from HDR Inc., and representatives from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.
County commissioner Wade Pavleck toured similar facilities in Japan in 2008 and reported that the environmental impact of the gasification facility was considerably less than that of a traditional landfill. RECAP would use a plasma arc torch to vaporize garbage and other waste, as well as create valuable byproducts.
Nevanen reports that the project is currently undergoing two steps simultaneously: the feasibility study and design.
The project received $951,000 for the design process from a U.S. Department of Energy grant. Nevanen explained that the design process would look more in-depth at pertinent topics including: vendors, simulations of varying mixes or “recipes” for the process and outputs, supply, cost versus revenue, maintenance on the torches, and recycling.
Nevanen estimated the total project costs to be between $30 million and $36 million. In an effort to reduce project costs, officials are considering production of synthetic gas, instead of electricity, as a byproduct of the vaporization process.
Nevanen explained that the team working on the project is seeking state bonding money to match federal funds. The process of hitting funding cycles and matching money is, “like a three-legged stool. Sometimes the legs don’t match.” No local money has yet been invested in the project, he said, but did not discount the possibility of needing local funds in the future to accompany federal and state grants.
The facility would operate similarly in many ways to other plasma gasification facilities, including those in Japan and Pennsylvania.
Keda news notes
• The Koochiching Economic Development Authority Board on Wednesday approved the creation of a Budget and Policy Committee to review the group’s current policies and oversee the creation of new policies. The creation of several new policies was recommended in the KEDA’s annual audit. The committee will also review the budget and make recommendations to the board. The committee will consist of board members Mike Fairchild, Allen Rasmussen and Penny Strongman.
One of the committee’s first tasks, along with reviewing the proposed 2010 budget options, is to consider if alternate members Strongman and Soren Olesen could fill in as needed for either of the at-large board members, Fairchild and Rasmussen, since they are not elected officials.
• Dave Serrano, Arro of the North, and Koochiching Land Commissioner Dennis Hummitzsch are exploring a possible wetland-mitigation strategy for a foreign trade zone east of Ranier that would be more cost-effective, KEDA Director Paul Nevanen explained. A meeting has been scheduled next week to discuss the strategy in more detail.
• As part of the treasurer’s report, Strongman noted that part of the budget was to continue with audit firm Walker, Giroux & Hahne. The board voted to retain the firm’s services next year with a budget not to exceed $4,300.
