Duke to burn wood with coal at 2 plants

Mar 10, 2010 — The Charlotte Observer

Bruce Henderson

Mar. 10, 2010 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK PRA) (NYSE:DUK) plans to run two of its coal-burning power plants partly on wood, a switch that will help the utility meet North Carolina's green-energy law.

Duke has asked the N.C. Utilities Commission to register its Buck plant in Rowan County and Lee plant in Williamston, S.C., as renewable-energy facilities. The plants would burn sawdust or wood chips with coal.

Apart from electricity, the plants will generate renewable energy certificates. RECs are tradable commodities that represent 1 megawatt-hour of energy made from sources such as the sun, wind or, in this case, wood wastes.

Duke would use the RECs in future years to show compliance with the state law. North Carolina requires utilities to generate a rising portion of their electricity from renewable sources between 2012 and 2021. They may also apply certificates proving the electricity was produced with renewable fuels.

North Carolina is rich in organic wastes that can be turned into energy sources. Biomass, as it is called, now produces 4 percent of N.C. energy, but experts say it could produce another 10 percent with existing resources.

Duke has already signed agreements to buy electricity generated from landfill gas, a form of biomass, in Durham and Greenville, S.C. It has partnered with the French nuclear services company Areva to turn waste wood into energy.

Duke tested "co-firing" sawdust and wood chips at the Buck plant last summer, and chips at the Lee plant for the last half of 2009.

Wood made up 5 percent to 20 percent of the fuel in those tests, spokesman Jason Walls said.

Newstex ID: KRTB-0038-42739866