The plan to build a 100-megawatt biomass power plant in Gainesville has been recommended for approval to Gov. Charlie Crist and his Cabinet by a state administrative law judge.
After a four-day hearing in August concerning the plant’s approval, Judge Robert E. Meale issued a 72-page recommended order earlier this month.
The plant, officially titled the Gainesville Renewable Energy Center, will be 8 miles northwest of downtown Gainesville and will use clean wood waste, such as forest residue, to produce electricity.
“The City of Gainesville has identified numerous benefits from the GREC project,” Meale wrote.
Among the benefits are enhancing the integrity and reliability of the generating system, producing reasonably priced electricity and diversifying fuel sources, Meale said.
The company that is developing the plant, American Renewables, has been underway on the project since 2007 with plans to create renewable energy and jobs, said Josh Levine, project manager for American Renewables.
“We’re very excited about the judge’s decision and are moving along diligently,” Levine said. “We are hoping to begin construction early next year, which will allow us to finish by 2013.”
The energy will be sold to Gainesville Regional Utilities under a 30-year power purchase agreement. Diversifying fuel sources is one of the greatest benefits, Levine said. GRU has been criticized by bond rating agencies for not having enough fuel diversity in the past.
Since the new plant will diversify the fuel sources, it will increase the financial liability of GRU, Levine said.
Unlike other forms of renewable energy that require the wind to be blowing or the sun to be shining, Levine said, this plant can produce energy 24/7.
The plant will also create jobs. The company will employ 44 individuals directly and could create up to 700 jobs for the region — anything from hotels and restaurants to the people that will be making the tires for the trucks, Levine said.
Former Mayor Thomas Bussing, the intervener in the hearing, disagrees with Levine and said that the plant will be a financial and environmental disaster.
The total cost of the contract is estimated to be more than $2 billion, Bussing said, making the power much more expensive than other forms of energy.
Increased electricity rates, increased pollution and emission of dioxins are not something that Gainesville needs, he said.
Instead, he said the next step could be taking the case to the citing board.
“This is merely a recommendation to the power plant citing board, and perhaps they will see that this is a flawed decision and remand it for improvement,” he said.
For now, the GREC group is trying to get on the Cabinet’s agenda for the Dec. 7 meeting. If they are successful, they hope to have a site certification by early December, Levine said.
