Home
Halifax County Biomass Plant
NOVEC-Plant-Logo

In November 2010, NOVEC and its development partner, NOVI Energy, began preliminary construction work on a 49.95 megawatt “green” biomass power plant near South Boston, Va. in Halifax County The plant will serve NOVEC’s customer-owners.

NOVI Energy is managing, on behalf of NOVEC, full construction of the plant already underway and expects the plant to begin commercial operations late in 2013. The total cost of the project is expected to be approximately $180 million. Funding for this project will be a combination of a $90 million loan from the US Department of Agriculture, equity funds, and state and Federal grants.

Fagen Inc, of Granite Falls, MN, is the turn-key engineering, procurement and construction contractor. Fagen anticipates hiring  a construction work force of 250 workers. Once the construction is completed, NOVI will hire 26 full time employees for the plant. The larger impact on the labor market will be the hundreds of persons involved in forestry, logging, and the provision of waste wood products and other services that will be needed to support the operations of this facility.

“Being good stewards of the environment has always been a priority at NOVEC,” said Co-op President/CEO Stan Feuerberg. “Currently, we distribute electricity generated by renewable hydropower and landfill gases, and we have been actively seeking an appropriate way to increase the amount of alternative energy in our resource portfolio. The biomass power plant will help us meet our goal. We expect it to supply up to 6.5 percent of our power requirements by 2014. That’s enough to serve the equivalent of 16,000 customers.” 

South-Boston-Biomass-Plant-artisti-Rendering,-11

Biomass – A Green Alternative
The proposed plant will rely on wood waste (also called “slash”) for fuel. Slash is typically left on forest floors or burned on logging sites. Forestry consultants have determined that there is an abundance of slash within a 75-mile radius of the proposed Halifax County facility. One of the significant attributes of this facility is that it will be “carbon neutral.” In other words, it will not add any more carbon dioxide to the environment beyond what is released through natural decomposition of slash.

The plant will also be cooled with ‘grey’ water from a nearby waste water treatment facility in a closed loop. Therefore, the plant won’t require the use of thousands of gallons of clean water from the local water authority. The plant site is not visible from adjoining roadways, because it is tucked inside 104 acres of woods.

Fact Sheet (PDF)