Biomass

Print-Friendly Version

Pittsylvania Power Station

Dominion’s Pittsylvania Power Station, an 80-megawatt facility in Hurt, Va., is one of the largest biomass power stations on the East Coast. Dominion purchased Pittsylvania Power Station in 2004. Pittsylvania’s sole source for producing electricity is from burning wood chips. More than 90 percent of its supply is waste wood that would otherwise be dumped into landfills or inefficiently burned.

At Pittsylvania, leftovers from sawmills, logging operations and paper mills are put to good use providing electricity. The station supplies enough electricity to power about 20,000 houses.

Two enormous, aromatic piles of wood chips — each about the size of a four-story building — are among the first things noticed by visitors arriving at the station. An estimated 3,300 tons of waste wood is unloaded each day at Pittsylvania, which translates to about 150 truckloads.

High-lifts load the wood chips onto a system of conveyer belts that eventually lead to three stoker boilers that burn the wood. Just as with coal-fired power stations, steam is generated to power the turbines that produce electricity. Fly ash and bottom ash produced at the station are reused as fertilizer at local farms and as landfill cover.

Similar to other renewable stations, the effects of Pittsylvania’s emissions are more environmentally friendly because the station produces very low levels of sulfur dioxide. Another key advantage of wood fuel is that it is "carbon neutral," meaning it does not result in any net addition of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. Although biomass burned as a fuel emits carbon dioxide, scientists consider the process to be "carbon neutral" because an equal amount of carbon is released into the atmosphere that would have been returned to it when the trees decayed as part of their natural life cycle.

The Pittsylvania station is part of Dominion’s commitment to reaching the Virginia target of 12 percent of renewable generation by 2022.

Altavista Power Station Dominion's Altavista Power Station uses biomass co-fired with coal. Located in Altavista, Va., this station produces 63 megawatts, which powers about 15,750 houses.

^ Top