Stoneman plant going green

19 Jan

Author: admin | Category: Main

CASSVILLE, Wis. - When it comes back online later this year, the DTE E. J. Stoneman power plant will be the first totally “green” power plant in Wisconsin. It will have a 40-megawatt capacity.

The plant conversion will lead to the addition of 17 to 35 employees.

In July 2008, DTE Energy Services, of Ann Arbor, Mich., purchased the power plant and retained Stoneman plant manager Gary Austin, who came to the plant in January 2008.

DTE said it planned to convert the coal-fired plant to burn wood waste, a renewable fuel.

Former village president Louis Okey, now a member of the Cassville Economic Development Board, praised Austin.

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“This is a big deal for Cassville,” Okey said. “He saw a diamond in the rough. He’s a knowledgeable guy who loves the area. He saw a chance for the plant to do real well.”

The plant will burn mostly urban wood waste, primarily from building demolition that would normally go to a landfill.

The conversion process is approaching a crescendo with structural - steel and concrete - work under way. It also includes converting the boilers from burning pulverized coal to a stoker technology and conversion of the material-handling process.

Forty-five to 60 people are working on the conversion. At the peak, 90 people will be involved.

The effort includes stockpiling fuel sources. DTE has a 13-acre quarry site near Dickeyville that’s almost full.

Okey and Austin agree the project will have a big economic impact on the area, adding indirect jobs related to supplying wood - chippers, cutters, truck drivers and barge operators.

“This is all going to help local companies - from trucking to storing,” Okey said. “And other small businesses should benefit.”