Mt. Poso Cogeneration Plant
In 2010, Macpherson partnered with DTE Energy Services and planned an innovative conversion of a coal fired cogeneration plant into a biomass-fueled facility, known as the Mt. Poso Cogeneration Plant. Since 2012, the plant has run on 100% wood-waste biomass fuel and delivers 44 megawatts of clean, renewable energy to the California grid. The energy produced at Mt. Poso is sold to Pacific Gas and Electric and provides enough energy to power more than 30,000 homes in Kern County.
The conversion won Engineering News Record for California’s “Best Industrial/Manufacturing Project of the Year.”
If you would like to learn more about Mt. Poso please visit their website here.
Sustainability
The wood used to fuel Mt. Poso comes from landfill diversion of construction and agricultural sources. The facility reuses water from oil recovery processes which is heated to steam to produce the electricity. By utilizing and recycling oilfield-produced water, the plant helps to preserve California’s groundwater. Biomass plants also benefit the air basin by processing clean construction and orchard waste in controlled combustion as compared to other methods of disposal. Mt. Poso is an example of renewable energy and the oil industry working hand in hand to meet California’s energy needs.
Today, Macpherson is readying a solar project to power another field which is expected to be completed in 2018.