ANDALUSIA, ALA. – PowerSouth Energy Cooperative has signed a purchased power agreement with Yellow Pine Energy Company, LLC, a commitment that further diversifies its renewable energy portfolio.

Along with 36 other cooperatives and municipal electric companies in Georgia, Alabama and Florida, PowerSouth signed a 30-year purchased power agreement with the company for the output of energy from a planned 100 megawatt biomass-fired power plant near Fort Gaines, Ga.  The contracts are for an initial term of 30 years, with options to extend the term to 40 years. All the plant’s output is committed, as are all of the renewable energy credits.

“Participation in this project affords PowerSouth and our members an opportunity to add renewable energy to our generation mix at an affordable cost,  while avoiding the operational and construction risks involved with a project of this magnitude,” said Damon Morgan, PowerSouth Vice President of Power Supply. “We are committed to expanding our renewable portfolio while continuing to provide affordable, reliable energy to our members.”

Construction on the facility is slated to begin this summer.

The Yellow Pine project is one of several “utility-scale” biomass renewable energy projects proposed in the Southeast. The plant uses state-of-the-art fluidized bed technology to convert wood waste into electricity. Several similar-sized projects were also announced for eastern Georgia, Florida and Texas.

 

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About PowerSouth:

PowerSouth serves the wholesale energy needs of 16 electric cooperatives and four municipal electric systems in Alabama and northwest Florida, with more than a million consumers in 39 Alabama and 10 Florida counties. PowerSouth is dedicated to providing reliable energy at the lowest possible cost to its members.

 

About Yellow Pine Energy Company, LLC:

Yellow Pine Energy Company, LLC is a proposed 100 megawatt biomass-fired power plant for a former industrial site about eight miles south of Fort Gaines, Ga., on the Chattahoochee River. The plant has been under development for three years and has received its zoning and special use authorizations and filed various permit applications with government entities. Equipment procurements and construction arrangements are under way. Yellow Pine is owned and managed Summit Energy Partners, LLC, Merrimac Associates, Inc., a power plant engineering firm, and Morris Energy Group, LLC, which owns and operates 700 megawatts of electric generation. Additional information can be found at www.merrimac.com and www.morrisenergy.com.

 

For more information:

Mark Ingram, Corporate Communication Manager

334.427.3330

mark.ingram@powersouth.com

www.powersouth.com

 

PowerSouth is an EEO and AAP employer