Great River Energy’s Elk River Resource Recovery Project made several process improvements in 2011 that have boosted electricity production, increased the value of recyclable materials, improved the plant’s efficiency and eliminated almost all waste being sent to a landfill instead of turned into refuse-derived fuel or recycled.

In addition to nearly eliminating waste sent to landfills, improved operations will result in annual cost savings of more than $1.1 million.

The improvements include a new ferrous metal clean-up system. The system makes the metal more valuable, delivering a net revenue of $240 per ton, up from $90 per ton prior to the cleaning system installation. The processing plant recycles approximately 7,800 tons of ferrous metal each year leading to a large increase in revenue. 

Additional improvements were made to reprocess the leftover residue, allowing 80-90 percent of it to go to our power waste-to-energy plant, Elk River Energy Recovery Station, for additional electricity generation. The remaining concentrated “final residue” material that had previously been sent to a landfill can now be sold to a local metal refining company, turning even more waste into viable products.

Previously, any large “bulky” materials that were delivered to the project could not be processed and were transferred to trailers and transported to a landfill. Processing equipment was added that now allows these bulky items, such as unrecyclable mattresses or furniture, to be shredded and then processed with other waste to recover the metals and to make additional refuse-derived fuel. By shredding bulky waste and reprocessing residue, almost no material goes to a landfill from ERRRP anymore.

Watch this video to learn how the project works!

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on March 2 that it has agreed to most of the state of North Dakota’s clean air plan for regional haze. EPA officials agreed to adopt most of the State Implementation Plan (SIP) for regional haze rather than a more costly federal plan. At this time, Coal Creek Station is still subject to the Federal Implementation Plan (FIP). Great River Energy originally completed the emissions analysis for Coal Creek Station in 2007, which formed the basis for North Dakota’s SIP.  Since that time, we have installed and operated our DryFining system on both units at the plant. As a result, we have had to conduct additional analysis to appropriately reflect the significant emission reductions we’ve made as a result of the DryFining system.

The revised analysis was provided to the North Dakota Department of Health and to EPA. We are working with the health department to finalize our submission.  Upon completion, we anticipate EPA will review and agree with the conclusion that selective non-catalytic reduction (SNCR) technology is not warranted for Coal Creek Station and that North Dakota’s SIP meets the requirements of the regional haze rule.

The EPA’s decision approves the SIP for Minnkota Power Cooperative’s Milton R. Young Station and Basin Electric’s Leland Olds Plant but requires additional control technology for Basin’s Antelope Valley Station, which the state had earlier proposed but EPA had previously rejected. If Basin Electric agrees to the suggestion, Antelope Valley Station will also be under the SIP.

 For more information check out our position statement here.

Safe sidewalks are an important step toward safe routes to schools. A Great River Energy donation will make it possible for students in one North Dakota community to bike and walk to class without worry.

A donation of ash produced at Great River Energy power plants will help the Safe Routes to Schools program improve the health and well-being of children by enabling and encouraging them to choose active ways to get to school. The project will use Great River Energy ash for the replacement of an existing sidewalk in Washburn, N.D.

The new sidewalks will use bottom ash as a soil stabilizer to help build a firm foundation for concrete, which will incorporate fly ash, another byproduct of coal-fueled electricity generation.

When fly ash is used as a replacement for a portion of cement in sidewalk construction the concrete has been proven to be stronger and longer-lasting. Other community benefits include the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions.

Approximately one ton of greenhouse gas emissions are prevented for every ton of fly ash used in place of cement.

In 2007, Minnesota passed a law that required all the state’s electric utilities to fulfill a quarter of their energy needs with renewable resources by 2025. Although the final goal is more than a decade away, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission recently requested that utilities report requirement’s cost or benefit to consumers.

Great River Energy reported that in 2010 the estimated wholesale rate impact of the Renewable Energy Standard (RES) requirement to our members was $22 million. That amounts to $0.002 per kilowatt-hour (kWh), which means that a home using 1,000 kWh per month would pay an additional $24 every year as a result of the RES.

The report included costs associated with renewable generation from wind and biomass as well as administrative and transmission costs. Great River Energy’s primary reason for higher costs is that our cost of purchasing wind energy was higher than the value of that energy, on average, during the times of production.

Until energy market prices recover from the recent lows, renewable energy is expected to continue to be a cost to Great River Energy. However, if prices rebound renewable resources could become economical.

“At this point, the environmental benefits of wind energy are coming at a cost to our members,” said Great River Energy Member Services Vice President Jon Brekke. “The impacts could grow as we ramp up to the full 25 percent goal by 2025, but this depends on many complex factors including future market conditions.”

These costs are not unique to Great River Energy. Other utilities also reported on RES impacts using various calculation methods. As a result of the various methods and unique resource portfolios, there was wide variation in reported cost impacts.

Our existing renewable energy resources (including wind and biomass) will ensure that we remain compliant with Minnesota’s RES through at least 2020.

Great River Energy invested early in wind generation in an effort to claim the best sites for wind resources and transmission access. Existing projects have also benefited from federal tax incentives which are scheduled to expire at the end of 2012.

North Dakota Sen. John Hoeven outlined a coal ash recycling bill, the Coal Residuals Reuse and Management Act of 2011, at a recent news conference in Bismarck, N.D. Great River Energy Generation Vice President Rick Lancaster also spoke in favor of the bipartisan bill that would protect the beneficial use of coal ash.

Great River Energy Generation Vice President (third from right) joined Sen. John Hoeven (at podium) at a recent news conference to speak in favor of a bipartisan bill that would protect the beneficial use of fly ash.

The bipartisan legislation, introduced Oct. 20, preserves coal ash recycling and also establishes federal standards for coal ash disposal. Under the legislation, states could either set up their own permitting program for the management and disposal of coal ash based on existing Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations to protect human health and the environment, or the EPA will implement the program.

“North Dakota handles coal residuals not only with good environmental stewardship, but also with innovation and common sense. Instead of filling our landfills with coal ash, we’re safely using this byproduct to build stronger and more cost‐effective buildings and roads. This bipartisan legislation empowers states and, just as importantly, it helps to preserve and create jobs that our nation so badly needs,” said Hoeven.

Great River Energy markets more than 400,000 tons of fly ash annually from Coal Creek Station and Stanton Station for value‐added uses. This eliminates the need to landfill that product.

Section 169 of the Clean Air Act was enacted to establish a national visibility protection goal. It calls for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish rules to ensure reasonable progress towards meeting this national goal. It also gives states the primary authority to implement the visibility protection requirements through state implementation plans. The EPA’s role is to provide oversight and assume authority if a state’s plan is inadequate.

The goal of regional haze regulation is to improve visibility in Class I areas, such as national parks and wilderness areas. It is not a health-based requirement. The intent of the regulation is to return the ambient air clarity to “natural background” levels by 2064. In the meantime, eligible facilities must demonstrate reasonable progress toward reducing those emissions that are known to contribute to haze, such as sulfur dioxide (SO2), NOx and particulate matter.

In its state implementation plan, North Dakota determined the necessary NOx reductions would be achieved at Coal Creek Station as a result of Great River Energy’s DryFiningTM system and the installation of further traditional controls. After investing millions into the first-of-its-kind technology, the plant is expected to emit 40 percent less SO2 and 20 percent less NOx than prior to the installation.

The EPA recently announced its intention to exercise this authority. On Sept. 21, the EPA published its determination to approve part of North Dakota’s state implementation plan and override certain aspects regarding the implementation of regional haze regulations for several power plants with respect to nitrogen oxides (NOx). Known as a federal implementation plan, the EPA’s oversight will apply to NOx regulation of Great River Energy’s Coal Creek Station units.

EPA has proposed an emissions limit that would require the use of selective non-catalytic reduction (SNCR) technology at Coal Creek Station. Because NOx emissions from Coal Creek Station have already been significantly reduced as a result of the DryFining installation, SNCR would have minimal impact on visibility and is not a cost-effective technology.

The EPA is currently accepting public comments on its determination and will host a public hearing in mid-October. Great River Energy will testify at the hearing as well as provide written comments to the EPA.

Learn more or get involved. Visit stopepand.com »

Representatives from the Raptor Resource Project were at Great River Energy’s Elk River Energy Recovery Station on Friday, July 8 to band four young peregrine falcons. The eyasses, residents of the nesting box atop the power plant, successfully hatched in late June after a five week incubating period.

The young falcons – two males and two females – appear to be healthy. The males are named Wayne and Hanson, after Wayne Hanson, Great River Energy’s former director of Minnesota generation, who recently passed away. The females are named Elisabeth and Skye, chosen from a list of names provided by students from Salk Middle School in Elk River, Minn. A group of students from the middle school closely followed the adult falcons during the school year and a few students from the group attended the banding. 

The eyasses will now begin to learn to fly and fend for themselves. They will remain in and around the nesting box for the next several weeks. Banding young peregrines provides important information on the birds’ movements and is essential to understanding their habitat needs year-round. The nestlings are removed from the nest box or natural nest site for a short time and metal bands are placed on the bird’s legs. These bands are uniquely lettered and numbered so that if the falcons are observed later, or found injured or dead, they can be identified.

This is the fifth year that Great River Energy has played host to a peregrine falcon family at our Elk River Energy Recovery Station. The site is a perfect location for a peregrine falcon nesting box because it lies within a migratory flyway and beside the Mississippi River (falcons prefer to nest in high locations near water). In recent history, power plants have had the best peregrine falcon production rates in the Midwest.

Watch the falcons on our Birdcam at: http://www.greatriverenergy.com/aboutus/environmental/birdcam.html

Great River Energy’s Elk River Energy Recovery Station peregrine falcons experienced a sad and unfortunate beginning to the 2011 nesting season. The male and female falcons that have been with us for the past few years returned to the nesting box in early March. The pair successfully produced four eggs in mid-April.

On April 22 the female falcon disappeared from the nesting box. The male falcon attempted to incubate the eggs in the female’s absence but he too eventually left the box. However, he returned within a few days with a new female falcon. We have determined that this is a banded falcon named Dot. She hatched and was banded in June 2007 at Xcel Energy’s Blackdog Power Plant located in Burnsville, Minn. 

Dot is the newest addition to our peregrine falcon nesting box.

We are now happy to report that Dot laid four eggs the week of May 11. This new batch of eggs is expected hatch around June 18 and the eyasses may be banded the week of July 4.

For the past four years, Great River Energy has played host to a peregrine falcon family at its Elk River Energy Recovery Station. The site is a perfect location for a peregrine falcon nesting box because it lies within a migratory flyway. The nesting box, beside the Mississippi River, is an ideal location because the birds prefer to nest in high locations near water. In recent history, power plants have had the best peregrine production rates in the Midwest.

Since 2007, thirteen peregrines have been fledged from the Elk River Energy Recovery Station nesting site. The original nesting box was replaced in 2010 as an Elk River student’s 4-H project.

You can watch the falcons on Great River Energy’s Birdcam at: www.greatriverenergy.com/aboutus/environmental/birdcam.html

Recently, Great River Energy transmission construction & maintenance staff finished a project that involved removal of 13 osprey nests from Great River Energy’s 230-kilovolt transmission line that runs east of Brainerd, Minn., in the Crow Wing Power member service area.

Adam Hinnenkamp (shown right) and Brent Benjamin build platforms for the osprey nests.

Ospreys are large raptors, which can reach two feet in length and have a wing span of six feet or more. When they build their nests (which can be three feet in diameter or larger) on the cross arms of wood transmission line structures, the nests become a hazard to safety and reliability. Fecal matter and moisture builds up and accelerates decay. The decay will eventually cause the arm to drop the wire, possibly causing outages, fires or electrocution if someone is standing nearby. The time was right to get the work done because ospreys migrate to the tropics for the winter and frozen ground makes accessing the nests easier.

Although not all of the nests could be saved, Great River Energy worked with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources on a plan to save and move five of the nests. Crews built special platforms and attached them to structures on the same transmission line, then they carefully moved the nests.

One reason not all of the nests can be saved is that relocations can be costly. “We need to be sensitive to both the future of the osprey and the costs associated with projects like this,” said Roger Kiefer, manager, transmission construction & maintenance.

Have you ever wondered how Great River Energy makes electricity out of garbage? Here’s your chance to learn how we do it! Watch our new video: Elk River Resource Recovery Project

Be sure to leave a comment telling us what you think!