Title
Joint Development Agreement to Evaluate the Feasibility of a Solid Fuel Electric Power Plant (B)
Explanation
Gainesville Regional Utilities staff continuously seek both demand side and supply side methods for meeting the long term energy needs of the community through integrated resource planning. Current projections indicate that GRU will need additional generation by about 2011. Over the last few years staff has discussed with the Commission the long-term advantages of maintaining a diversified fuel mix. Staff believes that the relative abundance of solid fuels compared to other fuel types, the risks associated with not having a diversified fuel mix, and the steadily increasing cost difference between natural gas and other forms of fuel need careful consideration. Staff has also presented several new technologies that radically improve the emissions from solid fuels and have potential to match the clean-burning advantage of natural gas.
The Florida Municipal Power Agency ("FMPA") is seeking collaborators on a feasibility study for siting and constructing a facility that is designed with the most recent technological innovations to efficiently generate electricity from solid fuels. The proposed study, which has not yet been fully designed, will include careful comparisons and evaluations of: emissions and environmental control systems; the future availability and price of biomass and fossil fuels; fuel transportation; Florida's bulk power transmission grid; and water resources. FMPA is committed to 50% of the project cost, but would like to have 2 or 3 additional participants. Should a project be feasible, it is expected to take at least nine (9) years to bring it to fruition.
Participation in the project will provide at least four (4) major benefits to the City of Gainesville. First, since committed participants will develop the scope and content of the study, GRU staff will make sure that technologies and design configurations suitable f...
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