November 10, 2008

The Berlin Daily Sun reports Clean Power Development hopes to begin construction on the Berlin Clean Power Facility in the spring of 2009, with a fully operational facility online by December 2010. Clean Power Development is working with the Berlin planning board, addressing the final challenges before construction can begin. Click here to read the full article from the Berlin Daily Sun.

September 8, 2008

The Berlin Daily Sun reports the city of Berlin supports Clean Power Development's request for federal tax credits. Click here to see the Berlin Project's latest news and read the full article.

August 11, 2008

Clean Power Development, LLC has released a study conducted by Innovative Natural Resource Solutions LLC exploring biomass fuel availability in the Berlin, New Hampshire area. The study considers fuel availability based on historical data and current and prospective biomass use throughout the Berlin area. We believe the information included in this study is critical to a complete understanding of the biomass energy potential of the region.

Click here to view the full report detailing biomass availability throughout the Berlin, New Hampshire area. Please be patient while it transfers (2.2MB PDF).

August 8, 2008

Clean Power Development would like to congratulate Andre Belanger, designer of the hex sign emblem for Clean Power's Merrimack project, for the recognition recently awarded him by the state's Medal of Honor Committee. That committee saw in his work the same special abilities and sensitivity that he brings to each of our projects and selected Andre to provide the New Hampshire Medal of Honor and Ribbon for our state's servicemen and women.

May 28, 2008

Clean Power Development, LLC President, Mel Liston, speaks out on climate change and encourages Senators Gregg and Sununu to support the Climate Security Act.

Click here to read the full article covering the event, a gathering of New Hampshire business professionals supporting the Climate Security Act.

Click here to download a copy of the letter Mel Liston and the team at Clean Power Development, LLC sent to Senators Gregg and Sununu.

May 3, 2008

Clean Power Development President, Mel Liston, speaks at the Annual Meeting of the New Hampshire Timberland Owners Association held at the Gunstock Ski Resort. Roger Amsden, an independent reporter, captured the story that appeared in a number of newspapers around the state and is shown here by permission.

Next Generation of Biomass Plants Will Have New Look, New Synergies

By ROGER AMSDEN - Union Leader Correspondent

GILFORD - A new generation of biomass cogeneration plants which are in the development stage across the state will look like farm buildings and will be sited so that they will be able to develop synergies with the existing energy infrastructure.

That's the scenario Mel Liston of Clean Power Development Corporation LLC of Concord shared with members of the New Hampshire Timberland Owners Association at the organization's annual meeting held over the weekend at Gunstock Ski Area.

"Not only will the forest industry and loggers be able to find a market for wood chips, which is a low end product, but we'll be working to keep the kind of look the tourist industry likes. The new plants won't look like an industrial park building at all. They'll look like big barns with silos nearby where the biomass will be stored. A person flying over one of these sites will look down and think they're above a very productive farm instead of an energy plant," says Liston.

April 30, 2008

Clean Power Development, LLC attended an important meeting of the regional electric transmission system, Independent System Operator of New England (ISO-NE) in Holyoke, Massachusetts. Clean Power Development was present to ascertain our support of our New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission position calling for a study related to the need for transmission line upgrades in Northern New Hampshire.

April 17, 2008

Representatives of Clean Power Development attended the Annual Meeting of the North Country Resource Conservation and Development Area Council, held at the Cannon Mountain Ski Resort Base Lodge. Of particular interest to the CPD personnel in attendance was the presentation of Professor Morris A. Pierce from Rochester University on the subject of District Heating.

January 12, 2008

Mel Liston, the President of Clean Power Development, spoke of his company and proposed projects during the New Hampshire Wildlife Federation (NHWF) Annual Meeting held in Concord. The NHWF Executive Director, Joe Norton, had the following comments that appeared on the organizations website and within its news letter;

"I want to extend a special thanks to Mel Liston, our former board director and president of Clean Power Development (CPD), for sponsoring our annual meeting. Mel and I have been discussing ideas and talking back and forth for a few months about partnering on various wildlife projects that can benefit our federation, our wildlife, and their habitat. I really hope and believe that we will be working together for many years to come and it feels good to have the support from all the folks at CPD. The biomass industry (wood chips to power) benefits our state economically through jobs, the environment through clean renewable energy, and our wildlife through healthier forests."

The Berlin, New Hampshire Project

November 10, 2008 - The Berlin Daily Sun reports Clean Power Development hopes to begin construction on the Berlin Clean Power Facility in the spring of 2009, with a fully operational facility online by December 2010. Clean Power Development is working with the Berlin planning board, addressing the final challenges before construction can begin. Click here to read the full article from the Berlin Daily Sun.

September 8, 2008 - The Berlin Daily Sun reports the city of Berlin supports Clean Power's request for federal tax credits. The article is included below in its entirety.

Barbara Tetreault
BERLIN- The city council has written a letter supporting Clean Power Development's efforts to obtain federal tax credits to help finance its proposed biomass plant.

Clean Power asked the city to support its request for an allocation of New Markets Tax Credits which the company said would be instrumental in the development of the plant.

New Market Tax Credits (NMTC) allow investors to receive a credit against their federal income taxes for investing in designated Community Development Entities which, in turn, invest in projects in low income communities. Berlin has been designated as low income community.

In a letter to the city requesting its support for an allocation of the tax credits, Clean Power head Mel Liston said competition for the credits is highly competitive.

Liston noted Clean Power downsized the proposed plant from 45 megawatts to 25 megawatts because of the results of the study it contracted on biomass fuel availability. He said reducing the amount of power generated, however, also reduces the revenue the facility will generate. He said that loss of revenue makes the tax credits important part of bringing the plant to fruition.

Liston wrote that Clean Power is in the design and planning stages of the project. Once operating, he said the plant would directly employ about 24 people and create up to 150 jobs in the forest products and trucking industries.

Furthermore, Liston said in addition to supplying renewable power to the region's electric grid, the biomass plant would be able to provide heat, steam, and electricity to adjacent properties at lower cost. He said that should help the city attract other economic growth.

In its letter of support, the city noted the impact of the decline of the paper industry and the closing of the pulp mill on the local economy. Berlin has among the lowest median family income and property value per capita in the state coupled with the highest unemployment and poverty rates in the state. The council said the Clean Power project would create badly needed new jobs and economic diversity to the city.

Clean Power has also told city officials it will be seeking to make a payment in lieu of taxes on the biomass plant. Last month, Councilor Ron Goudreau and Tom McCue, Jonathan Edwards of the Berlin Board of Assessors, City Manager Patrick MacQueen, and Economic Development Director Norm Charest met in nonpublic session with appraising consultant George Sansoucy to discuss Clean Power's valuation.

August 11, 2008 - Clean Power Development, LLC has released a study conducted by Innovative Natural Resource Solutions LLC exploring biomass fuel availability in the Berlin, New Hampshire area. The study considers fuel availability based on historical data and current and prospective biomass use throughout the Berlin area. We believe the information included in this study is critical to a complete understanding of the biomass energy potential of the region.

Click here to view the full report detailing biomass availability throughout the Berlin, New Hampshire area. Please be patient while it transfers (2.2MB PDF).

Project History

Clean Power Development traces its interest in the Berlin community as a Biomass Energy facility host back to September of 2006. The New Hampshire Department of Resources and Economic Development sent a package of information related to the assets at the shut down mill facilities. Trips ensued to assess the potential value for retrofitting component parts of the existing mill infrastructure as a biomass energy facility. During these trips there were many meetings with local government officials as well as regional politicians, private citizens, and North American Dismantling, the owners of the shut down mill property.

We rather quickly determined that none of the buildings or equipment on site was appropriate for a Clean Power Development project. The main asset of consideration being the so-called black liquor boiler was far too large for the available biomass fuel supply and known transmission line constraints, and it could not be adequately downsized to match these parameters. Additionally, the only logical retrofit involved utilization of a fluidized bed combustion process that would result in a noise problem in the middle of the city.

Clean Power Development, LLC proposes facilities that match the preferred ecology of New Hampshire and for this have developed the "Successful Farm" look in our project developments. Looking down through the beautiful Androscoggin Valley we could envision no redesign of the existing facility that would be more than a sow's ear. We informed North American Dismanteling (NAD) that we had no interest in the existing boiler but would like to establish an option on about 50 acres at the north east corner of the property for an all new low-profile energy facility. NAD declined to entertain any such proposal that did not utilize the existing mill boiler and provide them with the higher return they anticipated for that asset.

November 29, 2007 - City Manager Patrick MacQueen holds the check from Clean Power Development president Mel Liston for an option on an 11-acre site near the wastewater treatment facility. Administrative assistant Susan Tremblay witnessed the signing of the option. (Gail Scott Photo)

The principals of Clean Power Development were now emotionally invested in being part of the economic revitalization for this North Country community. Rather than walk away, Clean Power Development began the search for an alternate site. Finding a site with the right attributes was not easy but a higher power eventually brought us to a location of maximum potential at the southern extreme of Berlin surrounding the Berlin Waste Water Treatment facility.

From this location there are more possibilities for project synergies than at any other location in Berlin. We have optioned the required land from the City of Berlin, certified the facility with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, filed an interconnection request with the Independent System Operator of New England (ISO-NE), are established in their queue process and are proceeding with the feasibility study. We are regularly on the site with various subcontractors to complete all the studies required subsequent to applications for the various permits and gathering the site-specific details that go into project design.

Click the image below for an expanded diagram of our possible Berlin facility synergies...

3 January 2008

Clean Power Development, LLC and Anheuser-Busch, Inc. have entered into a renewable-energy project development agreement at the brewer's Merrimack facility. This project has been in development for over a year and now moves into the specification phase prior to a final decision to build.

The project consists of a biomass-power generation facility which would provide electricity and steam to the brewery using renewable fuel sources such as timber harvest residue and biogas created by the brewery's bioenergy-recovery system, which currently provides 10 percent of the brewery's fuel needs.

The electrical output not utilized by the brewery would be marketed through the ISO New England transmission system and provide a significant new supply of renewable power for New England consumers. This project would also provide additional stability and support for the forest-products industry that is economically important to the economy of New Hampshire. Finally, it would make a significant contribution towards the state's goal to ensure 25 percent of our energy comes from renewable sources by the year 2025.

The Winchester, New Hampshire Project

Clean Power Development began the search for an appropriate site for a Biomass Energy Facility in the Cheshire County region of New Hampshire in early April of 2007. By mid-May we had narrowed our focus to available locations all within the Town of Winchester. We first met with a town official of Winchester on May 25, 2007 to gain more detailed information about the various potential sites.

Always looking for a site that maximizes potential synergies, we settled on land near the town waste water treatment facility on Route 119. We intend to further clean and utilize the WWT (waste water treatment) water normally discharged to the Ashuelot River as a makeup supply for our circulating cooling water system. This will significantly improve the downstream quality of this beautiful river, while at the same time maximizing the utilization of the available water resources.

Clean Power Development optioned the first of several parcels of land upon which the facility will be built in December of 2007, and immediately contacted the regional transmission system operator with an interconnection request establishing this project in the ISO-NE queue for a Feasibility Study that is now underway. Additional land options have since been added to the project to provide adequate space at the facility site as well as at the interconnection point adjacent to the nearest 115kv transmission line.

Clean Power Development formally introduced the town to this project at the March 26, 2008 Selectman's Meeting and also addressed the Planning Board on March 31, 2008 in relation to a zoning clarification. Presently, the site is undergoing a number of surveys and subcontracted studies in preparation for the multiple permits required and in preparation to go before the State of New Hampshire Energy Facility Site Evaluation Committee.