How big is a biomass power plant? How big is the proposed Placer County Lake Tahoe basin biomass facility?
The intended end use of the energy and the availability of fuel/feedstock determine the capacity of a biomass power plant to generate electricity. In the U.S., most biomass power plants are associated with forest industries such as sawmills. These produce electricity and heat or steam using biomass wastes (e.g., sawdust and bark) from the sawmill operations. Electricity and heat or steam generated can be utilized for the sawmill. Excess electricity can be sold to the electrical grid. Generally, biomass power plants are larger than 15 megawatts (one megawatt is enough to service about 1,000 households for a year), but can range from less than 1 MW to over 50 MW. It takes about 8,000 bone dry tons (2 big trucks a day) of woody biomass to produce one MW of electricity on an annual basis. The Placer County Lake Tahoe basin biomass facility is proposed to generate between 1 and 3 MW of renewable electricity.
