Talk of bio-gen plant at CFAC

The Columbia Falls Aluminum Co. could be a good place for a bio-generation electric plant, Montana Sen. Ryan Zinke said last week.

Zinke noted that the aging aluminum smelter has several things in its favor: The electrical grid is already in place. The plant has water rights and it also has plenty of space.

Fuel, in the form of wood waste, is also available from local mills. Zinke said that talk of such a facility, which would burn to create electricity, is still pretty much just discussion, but it has drawn interest from the likes of Plum Creek, F.H. Stoltze, CFAC and the Bonneville Power Administration.

Such a plant would take a lot of cooperation between a lot of players, Zinke admits.

“The challenge is to take it from a conversation to a reality,” he said.

Stoltze is considering a co-generation plant at its mill. Its current boilers date back to when the sawmill was first built.

The idea there is to burn wood waste to power the mill’s boilers and provide electricity for the valley. Politically and environmentally, these facilities make sense. But financially, lumber and wood products markets are seeing the worst prices in decades.

A CFAC facility would provide more power — in the neighborhood of 25 to 35 megawatts, Zinke noted.

Wood is an attractive fuel because it’s considered carbon neutral — yes, the burned trees create carbon dioxide, but trees can be replanted or regenerate on their own, unlike fossil fuels.

CFAC external affairs manager Haley Beaudry agreed that a bio-gen plant at CFAC is still just talk now.

But he said “in general, we’re in favor of more power plants.”

He noted that the Northwest has seen a growing population and a greater demand for electricity.