A Combined Energy, Heat and Food Facility for Vermont
The Fair Haven Energy Project will integrate the operations of a renewable biomass electricity plant, also a wood pellet production operation and a year-round greenhouse operation.
The design will feature state-of-the-art technology that minimizes emissions, maximizes efficiency, and gives Vermont a new model for a combined energy, heat and food facility.
It will create hundreds of much needed jobs in Rutland County, revitalize the working forest economy and inject tens of millions of dollars annually into the community through taxes, wages and business activity.
Local Energy: Clean, Renewable Biomass Power Production
The Fair Haven Project is a proposed 29.5 megawatt woody biomass power plant. It will produce electricity fueled by locally harvested wood, with an unmatched design and efficiency process that will produce the most electricity possible from the wood resource. It will be one of the most technology advanced and environmentally friendly biomass plant the U.S.
The wood fuel supply will be tree tops, branches, bark and excess wood that is now often unused when wood is harvested for paper, lumber, or pellets. Most of the wood will come from within 50 miles of the plant. Experienced foresters will work to protect forest health, half of this available wood supply would be left on the forest floor to help soil and animal habitat grow.
The renewable wood resources used to fuel the plant largely would be different than the wood resources typically used to heat buildings, make paper or wood products ensuring there is no competition for wood between these different uses.
- Locally-produced, renewable, 24-7 baseload power. Our region needs more renewable energy plants capable of producing power 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days of the year.
- Enough power to energize 34,000 homes.
- 25 well-paying, on-site jobs working in the power plant. Our jobs will pay between $40,000 and $115,00 a year.
- Hundreds of indirect, off-site jobs in the careful collection of wood resources by loggers and land owners
- Increased reliability for the power grid that will help reduce the need for future, expensive transmission projects. Our project will use existing power lines.
- Because the biomass fuel will be locally sourced, there will be minimal transportation required to get the fuel from the forest to the plant.
- A new, stable market for low-grade wood resources.
- Environmentally friendly forestry that boosts the economy while protecting the forest resource.
Local Heat: Clean, Wood Pellet Production
Powered by some of the heat and steam produced in the biomass electricity plant, the Fair Haven Project will make high quality wood pellets.
Pellet manufacturing involves drying and processing wood into clean, efficient burning pellets.
We plan to make 110,000 tons of clean energy wood pellets each year, which is enough to heat 27,000 homes.
- Pellets are the cleanest way to heat with wood. Burning pellets in place of cordwood will significantly increase the efficiency of the way we use our wood head resources.
- Heating with wood pellets can reduce our reliance on foreign oil. Our pellets could replace 13 million gallons per year of building heating oil, which is one of Vermont’s top sources of climate change pollution.
- 25 well-paying, on-site jobs working in the pellet plant. Our jobs will pay between $40,000 and $115,000 a year.
- Hundreds of indirect, off-site jobs in the careful collection of wood resources by loggers and landowners.
Local Food: A Year-Round Fair Haven Food Farm
The Energy Center will generate heat ideal for a large-scale greenhouse and other local food
production.
The production facility would be a perfect backdrop for food systems educational programming for local public schools and colleges.
- Year-round food growing operation can supply the regional food markets.
- The facility will create many jobs in food production.
- Cold season food growing powered by excess heat from the nearby power plant instead of expensive oil heat.
