Appleton-based Boldt Company picked for coal plant conversion to biomass

From an article in the Appleton Post-Crescent:

MADISON — The Appleton-based Boldt Company will partner with an international engineering firm on a $250 million state project converting a coal-fired heating plant into one using biomass for fuel.

Gov. Jim Doyle on Monday announced the project converting the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Charter Street Heating Plant to a cleaner, renewable fuel source.

“Today, we are breaking ground on the Charter Street biomass plant and taking a major step forward to make this goal a reality,” Doyle said. “The Charter Street plant will turn a waste stream into clean energy, it will keep energy dollars in our communities, and it will help clean our air and water.”

Boldt, which operates offices in Madison and 10 other Wisconsin communities, will partner with AMEC, an international engineering and project management firm with expertise in coal-to-biomass boiler conversion.

The two companies were partners in building an addition to a Manitowoc Public Utilities plant in 2006.

Boldt President Bob DeKoch said the project will be the largest biomass conversion project in Wisconsin.

“There are a lot of larger (conversions) out there but this is a very large one,” Koch said. “Nearly all of the biomass would be supplied from sources within the state of Wisconsin.”

The plant, which provides steam and heat for UW-Madison campus buildings, now burns 108,000 tons of coal per year. Once converted, it will burn renewable materials — such as forest waste, wood scraps created in the wood-harvesting process and paper mill residues — as its primary source of fuel.