Energy produced by the facility will be sold to Austin Energy under a 20-year power purchase agreement.

Commenting on the development Southern Company president, chairman and CEO Thomas A. Fanning said that the plant was the nation’s largest biomass-fueled plant and is operational on-schedule and on-budget.

The plant further diversifies the energy portfolio of both the Southern Company and Austin Energy, said Fanning.

Southern Company invested about half a billion dollars in the project that will be fueled by non-merchantable wood waste.

Construction on the facility began in 2009 and is spread on a 165-acre tract in northeast Texas near Sacul.

NGF is owned and operated by the Southern Power, a subsidiary of Southern Company.