NOVI Energy is managing completion of construction of the South Boston Energy Project (SBE), a 49.9 megawatt (gross) woody biomass-fueled, electric generating plant in Halifax County, South Boston, Virginia. The project is entering the equipment testing phase, with the plant projected to be in commercial operation by the end of the third quarter-2013.
NOVI developed the SBE project, starting with performance of a feasibility study for the Halifax County Industrial Development Authority (IDA) that verified the economic viability of the project. NOVI negotiated a development agreement with Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative (NOVEC) to continue with the project. NOVI then optioned the site, applied for and received all local and State permits and worked with NOVEC to receive State regulatory approval from the Virginia Public Utilities Commission. In spring 2011 NOVI hired Fagen, Inc., as Engineering, Procurement and Construction contractor and construction began. NOVI applied for, and the SBE project received, a $3.185 million grant from the Virginia Tobacco Commission, which improved the SBE Project’s economics. Once the project entered construction, NOVI sold the project to NOVEC.
SBE will process as much as 600,000 tons of waste wood annually into renewable electric energy. The project will obtain all its fuel needs from the local forest products industry as waste wood from regional timbering operations and manufacturing at mills. The SBE plant is located in an industrial park on a 104-acre site that was previously occupied by a Georgia-Pacific plant.
Power from the project will be utilized by the customer-owners of Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative (NOVEC), based in Manassas, VA.