Grant will help fund initial stages of plasma gasification plant
A $951,000 grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration has been awarded to the Koochiching Development Authority for the Renewable Energy Clean Air Project, U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar recently announced.
“The technology is amazing,” said Oberstar. “This plant will superheat municipal waste converting it to energy. The process is clean and leaves no waste products, and I am proud to see this kind of innovation in northeast Minnesota.”
When completed, the RECAP facility is expected to process 100 tons of municipal waste a day to generate 40,000 British thermal units per hour of synthetic gas, and 40,000 pounds per square inch per hour of steam for industrial use or electrical generation.
“Projects like this are going to help our nation become energy independent,” said Oberstar. “We are utilizing existing resources in a cost-effective and environmentally-sound manner.”
Oberstar secured the funding for the grant in the Energy and Water Appropriations Act of 2009. Even though the funds for the project were dedicated to the project by law, the Koochiching Development Authority had to go through an application process to ensure that the project is responsible and financially viable.
This grant covers about one third of the cost of the feasibility study, permitting, design and pre-construction costs for the RECAP project.
Koochiching Economic Development Authority Director Paul Nevanen said that employees from Coronal, a project partner on RECAP, would come to the area soon to discuss details about future steps in the process.
A feasibility study is currently being reviewed by the project’s engineering firm. After the review process has been completed, the study will be presented to the county for further assessment.
Nevanen and Koochiching County Commissioner Mike Hanson, along with other members of the project team, recently toured a similar Westinghouse plasma gasification facility in Pennsylvania.
Hanson explained that this federal grant, along with similar federal funds already approved for the project, would need to be matched with state funds.
The match could come from a bonding bill, which Hanson said he expects to be discussed near the start of the Feb. 4 legislative session.
Wording in a 2006 Minnesota bonding bill to fund initial stages of the project, which included the word “construction,” raised questions last summer about the ability of $2.5 million to be released to match the federal dollars for this portion of the project.
Hanson said that the indication from every level of official he has talked to is that the rewording is a technicality and is expected to be approved.
Hanson also told The Journal that the project has also received $400,000 federal money and a $400,000 state match. Estimated total costs when the project began were around $30 million. Differences in outputs of electricity and gas will make a difference in the bottom line, Hanson said.
Hanson credits cooperation between local colleagues involved in the project and legislative representatives at both the state and federal level for the steps already taken in continuing this project.
“Without them, we couldn’t move forward,” Hanson noted.
