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this was in the local paper; Baard Energy moving ahead with plant plans
By PAUL GIANNAMORE, Business editor POSTED: March 27, 2009 Save | Print | Email | Read comments | Post a comment
Email: "Baard Energy moving ahead with plant plans"
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STEUBENVILLE - The Ohio River Clean Fuels project at Wellsville will have to work harder for financing without Department of Energy loan guarantees, but the coal-to-liquid fuels plant parent, Baard Energy LLC, says the project will move forward.
Baard issued a statement Thursday announcing it was pulling out of the process to seek loan guarantees for the project because of delays resulting from challenges by the National Resources Defense Council and the Sierra Club.
Essentially, Baard was going to pay about $1 million in unrefundable fees to the Department of Energy with no guarantee the loan backing would be made available in a timely fashion for construction of the plant, if at all.
John Baardson, chief executive officer of Baard Energy, said the challenges to permits issued by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers would likely delay for years any funding from a Department of Energy guarantee. The DOE has told Baard that environmental lawsuits would be considered part of the department's evaluation of the risks of a project and guarantees wouldn't be made until suits were resolved.
"In our judgment, we did not think it was worthwhile to put at risk over $1 million of nonrefundable submission fees and associated costs to participate in any federal program that has this much uncertainty," Baardson said in Thursday's statement.
Baard's final permits for the plant were issued in November.
Baardson said the permit process included more than a year of scrutiny by OEPA, and many comments received from the National Resources Defense Council were included in the final permit terms and conditions.
The 2008 federal appropriations act authorized the Department of Energy to make loan guarantees up to $6 billion for coal gasification projects that incorporate carbon capture and sequestration, as well as $2 billion for loan guarantees for projects such as Ohio River Clean Fuels. The company responded to the DOE's application solicitation in September.
Steve Dopuch, Baard vice president, said the plans for the Ohio River Clean Fuels plant include capture and sequestration of carbon that will be used for enhanced oil recovery in western oil fields. Dopuch said the fuels the plant will make will have a 40 percent improvement in greenhouse gas emissions compared with petroleum fuels, including ethanol blends. He said the stack emissions would be cleaner than what already is coming out of coal-fired power plants.
The plant is expected to employ thousands in its construction and more than 400 operators in high-paying jobs once its completed. Ohio River Clean Fuels would convert coal and biomass into synthetic gas that would be further converted into 53,000 barrels a day of diesel and jet fuel, with napthta byproducts used as feedstock in the chemical industry.
Tracy Drake, executive director of the Columbiana County Port Authority, said the federal guarantees weren't necessary but would be helpful for Baard in obtaining financing.
"Baard is saying they're frustrated at the federal level and has said it will withdraw and do the financing on their own locally. They do not want to be in a situation where outside forces that have nothing to do with the marketplace or what is right for the country interfere in the ability to do private business," Drake said.
Baardson said the National Resource Defense Council already has submitted Freedom of Information Act requests seeking to review Baard's loan application, as was done in Ohio before suits were filed challenging the project's permits.
The company will proceed with the project without the loan guarantees.
"It is certainly going to be a little more difficult to set up regular financing," said Dopuch. "But we are bound and determined to proceed on the project. We're hopeful we still could break ground this summer, but that remains to be seen."
"This is a fully permitted plant by the Ohio EPA. It's shovel ready, site ready, fully permitted, a great project and a great plan," Dopuch said. "It's unfortunate the government is not going to make funding available for a project such as this.
"It does not make sense for us to spend over $1 million in nonrefundable submission fees and associated costs and not even know when or if we would get a loan guarantee," Dopuch said.
"Further, the DOE already told us some penalties will be assigned to our evaluation because of the lawsuits by the NRDC, and further, they might not even be able to provide funds until after these lawsuits are settled," he said. "Why would any company in its right mind buy into a program like that?"
Drake said the port authority was awarded $5.7 million in federal stimulus money Thursday to complete its riverfront industrial park in Wellsville and pave the way for the Baard plant.
The grant will pay for completion of the overhead crane and conveyor system central to the port authority's intermodal industrial park.
The money for the projects is coming through the portion of $787 billion in federal stimulus money set aside for transportation projects.
e local paper ;
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harleys and vws----ac all the way
I love my country, But i fear my government
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