Koda Energy LLC (Koda Energy) is about to complete the testing of its $60 million biomass power facility located in the Rahr Malting Co. campus in Shakopee, Minnesota. The plant is scheduled to be fully operational by mid-February 2009. The facility will run on 100% biomass in a McBurney high pressure biomass boiler, to produce 24 megawatts of electricity per hour. The plant will power the Rahr Malting Co. plant and be sold to Xcel Energy.
The plant is a joint venture between Rahr and the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community.
In preparation to starting operations, Koda Energy performed a steam blow, a process that removes any contamination from the plant’s piping by releasing steam through the pipes and then out a diverter pipe before reaching the turbine blades.
Firing up of the boiler on natural gas is anticipated shortly, after which Koda Energy will start burning biomass. Initially, the plant will use a single fuel source oat hulls from a General Mill’s cereal processing plant. After fine tuning the equipment, Koda Energy I splanning to add other feedstocks to make the perfect recipe.
Koda Energy also said that one truck of oat hulls from General Mills has been delivered; five additional trucks were expected within the week.