Huaian Chuzhou Bio-straw Power Plant

Huaian Chuzhou Bio-straw Power Plant, located inHuaian City, Jiangsu Province, is owned and operated by Guoxin Huaian Biomass Gen. Co. and Puzhou Provincial Government.

Slated for completion at the end of 2007, the plant will have two generators at 15 MW of capacity each. Although standard biostraw generators come with nameplate capacities of up to 25 and 50 MW, the 15MW capacity was chosen due to its slower pace of erosion (thus lower maintenance costs), as well as to match the amount of straw supply that could be procured within a 30 km radius. With a location next to the electrical substation, its cost of connecting to the grid are minimal. Its cold startup time is approximately 3 hours, and it is projected to run 5-6000 hours out of a year.

Two tons of the straw used by the plant can produce energy equal to that of one ton of coal. The plant uses both wheat and rice straw (which grow in alternating seasons). The straw would otherwise be burned by farmers. The power plant has invested in a local collecting agency which buys straw directly from farmers and bundles it.

As a biomass plant in Jiangsu, this plant faces similar subsidy and tariffs as the landfill gas plant.