Efforts to add more renewable energy in Wisconsin from burning wood waste moved ahead Monday with the completion of one biomass power plant and the start of construction on another.
A 40-megawatt biomass power plant has opened in southwestern Wisconsin.
The power plant, the E.J. Stoneman Station in Cassville, is producing electricity by burning wood waste including residue from forestry and tree trimming work as well as railroad ties, demolition waste and sawdust.
Ann Arbor, Mich.-based DTE Energy Service Inc. owns and operates the plant and sells the power to Dairyland Power Cooperative of La Crosse.
"DTE Energy Services is proud to be able to give the Stoneman plant new life as a generator of renewable energy," David Ruud, president of DTE Energy Services, said in a statement. "We also are pleased that the plant will provide employment for 32 members of the Cassville community and support the local economy through our relationships with fuel suppliers and other local businesses."
Dairyland built the former coal-fired power plant in 1951 and operated it for more than 40 years.
"We are pleased to see this major renewable energy resource come online for our cooperative membership," said Dale Pohlman, Dairyland vice president of strategic planning. "Our 'green' partnership with DTE Energy Services will supply the energy needs to power 28,000 homes across our system by utilizing a natural resource - wood waste - as fuel."
source: APEC-VC Korea
