The $75 million “Northern Wood Power Project,” located at Public Service of New Hampshire’s Schiller Station, has permanently replaced a 50 megawatt coal boiler with a state-of-the-art wood-burning boiler of the same size. As a result, air emissions at the power plant are expected to be reduced by more than 380,000 tons annually through the burning of clean wood chips.

“The dramatic emission reductions from this facility will help us satisfy the strict requirements of the New Hampshire Clean Power Act,” noted Gary Long, PSNH president and chief operating officer. “Furthermore, we are able to make this improvement while still maintaining some of the lowest energy rates in the region.”

Because it is a new renewable energy project, the PSNH facility will produce more than 300,000 “renewable energy certificates” annually. Revenue from the sale of the certificates to regional energy suppliers seeking to satisfy renewable energy requirements will be used to offset the project’s capital costs.

The new boiler is expected to annually consume more than 400,000 tons of wood, most of which will come from suppliers in the Granite State. The use of local wood supply was a key goal of PSNH and the New Hampshire Timberland Owner’s Association, an early supporter of the project, and will help bolster the state’s economy and advance good forestry practices.

“Our thanks go out to the Timberland Owner’s Association, as well as the City of Portsmouth and the Town of Newington,” said Long. “We could not have succeeded without the support they provided, as well as the support of many others, including the Audubon Society of New Hampshire and the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests.”

Construction of the Northern Wood Power Project began in October 2004, following a rigorous review by state regulators and by planning boards in Portsmouth and Newington. The project’s primary components include a 110-foot high boiler, equivalent to a nine-story building, a wood-fuel delivery system, and a large wood storage facility, capable of holding about 10,000 tons of wood chips. Additional information on the project is available at www.psnh.com.

PSNH currently owns and operates power generating facilities which are capable of collectively producing about 1,100 megawatts of power, and satisfying about 70 percent of typical customer annual energy requirements. The company remains committed to increasing its diverse energy power portfolio, and supports legislative efforts to modify current state law in order to allow PSNH to propose additional new renewable energy power generation.