Presentation to
The 9th Annual Southern BioProducts and
Renewable Energy Conference
Maximizing Mississippi’s Biomass Advantage
13 April 2010
Harrah’s Resort, Tunica, MS
About Power Capital
November 2006
Meridian Power Limited is an affiliate of
Power Capital
It was established as the project
development arm of Power Capital
Founded in 1997 by Marco Dell’Aquila, it
was one of the first energy advisory firms
to specialize in renewables
Over the past 13 years the firm has
gained a track record of 16.5GW of power
transaction mandates with a value of
some $16 billion
Power Capital is based in London and has
followed the rapid growth of the
renewables market in Europe
It has significant
biomass sector
experience
in
March 2005
S. J. Fraser & family interests
Acquisition by
Miro Radici Finance SpA
of a 40% equity stake from and
formation of a Joint Venture
Disposal by S. J. Fraser and family of
their minority shareholding
in Fibrowatt Group Limited to
Energy Power Resources Limited
to co-develop five biofuel fired power
plants in Italy
Financial Adviser to Miro Radici
April 2008
Purchase by a private investor
of an equity stake in
Purepower Holdings Limited,
a UK company engaged in the
development and ownership of
biomass pyrolysis power plants
Financial Adviser to S. J. Fraser
1998 - 2002
Acquisition of a 25% Equity Stake
& Provision of a Corporate Loan
to Fibrowatt Limited
Acquisition of a 10% Equity Stake
& Provision of a Development Loan
to Fibritalia srl
the
Financial Adviser to the Investor
Financial Adviser Gruppo Falck
About Meridian Power
Meridian Power is a power company established to build, own and operate clean and
efficient power plants
Meridian Power plans to develop, build, own and operate a series of 150MW biomass
power plants in the Southeastern United States
The principals have +50 years’ international experience in the energy sector
They have worked for companies such as General Electric and Calpine
They have developed, financed, built and operated dozens of power plants exceeding
10GW
Several of these are biomass plants mostly in the UK
Meridian Power has appointed a Mississippian as its regional representative for the
Southeast US, based in Jackson
Meridian Power is currently working with key stakeholders in Mississippi to assess the
merits of locating its first one, two or three site in the State of Mississippi
Meridian Power is focussing on building sustainable fuel supply chains to deliver secure,
green, baseload power
Biomass track record
Name
Fibrothetford
Location:
UK
Owner:
EPR
Capacity:
38.5MW
ISD:
1998
Availability:
80 – 85%
Cost:
£56 million
Financing:
Project financed
Fuel
Chicken litter
(420,000 tpa) a
mixture of chicken
droppings, straw and
wood shavings
Technology:
Mature - moving grate boiler (Foster Wheeler) and Ansaldo (turbine)
Biomass track record
Name:
Huntingdon
Location:
UK
Owner:
Purepower
Capacity:
2/4MW
ISD
2009/10
Availability:
70 – 80%
Cost:
+£15 million
Financing:
Equity financed
Fuel
20,000 tpa
waste wood
By-product:
Bio-char used as
high quality fertiliser
Technology:
Pyolyser (Hudol) & engine (GE Jenbacher)
Biomass track record
Name:
Glanford
Location:
UK
Owner:
EPR
Capacity:
13.5 MW
ISD
1993
Availability:
70 – 80%
Financing:
Project financed
Fuel
Meat Bone Meal &
and Poultry litter
By-product:
Ash used as a
fertiliser
Technology:
Conventional moving
grate boiler and steam cycle
Biomass track record
Name:
Eye
Location:
UK
Owner:
EPR Eye ltd
Capacity:
12.7 MW
ISD
1992
Availability:
70 – 80%
Financing:
Project financing
Fuel
Poultry litter,
Horse bedding
Feathers (160k tpy)
By-product:
Ash as fertiliser
Technology:
Conventional moving
grate boiler and steam cycle
The plant
MP has identified a standard-sized power plant with an installed capacity of 150MWe
The plant will require about 1.2m tons of dried biomass in the form of woodchips
It will be located within a 75 mile radius of the source of the biomass
Trees are felled and forest residue is collected, loaded onto trucks and taken to a fuel
reception yard where the rounds and branches are shredded and then chipped into
woodchips measuring 4”x2”
The wood chips are then stored in dry silos at a moisture content of between 20 – 40%
Once the wood chips achieve 10 - 12% moisture, they are taken by conveyor to a boiler
and combusted, creating steam
The steam turns a turbine which feeds a generator and creates electrical energy
The plant will run as baseload, producing 1.1GWh at 85% availability
The char and ash created as waste can be used as fertilizer and road fill
Biomass project status
Meridian Power intends to select its first site by May 2010, the key factors are:
– Negotiating a PPA with a utility to sell the power on a long term basis
– Sufficient biomass available with a 75 mile radius
– Connection to high voltage electrical grid
– Local support
– State support
Economic benefits of our project
An investment of >$400 million in the State (for each project)
Long term supply contracts enable loggers and chippers to sustain their businesses in
the long term, hire people and make capital investments
Stable demand for wood for at least +20 years
Electrical output sold to the State
Will create +3,000 direct and indirect ‘green’ jobs during the construction and operation
including the economic and fuel supply multipliers
Long term asset of +20 years unlike other shorter life industrial assets
Biomass power plants are a “local business”
Why Mississippi?
Mississippi has approximately 19.7 million acres of timberland
Each year 12.2 million tons of forest residue is created and of that, 7.2 million is wasted
Due to reforestation, the State grows twice as much timber as it cuts down
In fact, since 1992 the State has added 1 million acres of forests
Why biomass?
Carbon neutral
― The CO2 released on combustion is equivalent to the amount absorbed through
photosynthesis
On demand
― As opposed to wind energy, which is intermittent, biomass is available on
demand
Energy security
― Biomass comes from an abundant local source of fuel
Local employment
― Revitalizes existing wood supply chain by providing a new use of the chips as
fuel: forestry management, harvesting, supply, preparation and ultimately power
production are all local in nature
The environment
Carbon neutral
Low sulfur emissions
Use of forest residue spurs good forest management practice – healthier forests
Reduces methane emissions caused by decomposing wood on forest floor
Removes the need to dispose of waste wood which is burned openly and inefficiently
Can diversify the State’s reliance on fossil fuels and nuclear
Can reduce the need for the State to import fuels
The abundance of woodland in the State of Mississippi means that it can become a
significant contributor to the energy mix
Contacts
Marco Dell’Aquila
Managing Director
[email protected]
+44 207 795 6585
Mark Frascogna
Director – Southeast US
[email protected]
+1 601 942 3030