P&G’s New Tissue Mill in Georgia Powered by $200 Million Biomass Facility
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Procter & Gamble Co., Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, and Constellation, a subsidiary of Exelon Corp. (Chicago, Ill.), gathered with city, county, and state officials in Southwest Georgia this past week to celebrate the development of an up to 50 MW biomass plant that will help run one of P&G’s largest U.S. tissue paper and paper towel production facilities.
Scheduled to begin commercial operation in June 2017, the plant will provide 100% of steam, and up to 60% - 70% of total energy used to make Bounty paper towels and Charmin toilet tissue at P&G’s Albany, Ga., facility.
Constellation will build, own and operate the $200 million cogeneration plant, which in addition to supplying steam to the P&G facility, will generate electricity for the local utility, Georgia Power (GP).
Albany’s mayor and members of the local Economic Development Commission commended P&G - a local business for more than 40-years – and Constellation for providing renewable energy and jobs to the community. Construction activities are expected to create up to 500 new jobs over the next two years, with an additional 50 to 70 permanent local jobs for ongoing operations once the plant is built.
The biomass plant will significantly increase P&G’s use of renewable energy, helping get the company nearly halfway to its 2020 goal of obtaining 30% of its total energy from renewable sources. Currently, only 8% percent of P&G’s energy comes from renewable sources.
Constellation is currently under contract to sell 42 MW of capacity and energy from the 50 MW facility to GP, which purchases the energy at or below GP’s avoided cost. Constellation’s affiliate, Exelon Generation, will operate and maintain the plant.
Tours of the facility showcase the existing 30-year old P&G boiler, which provides 30% of the total energy at the plant and saves on average $3 million a year compared to natural gas costs. The new plant will more than double the current total energy output and will be fueled from biomass that would otherwise have been left to decay, burned, or potentially sent to landfill, labeled unsuitable for any type of use in actual papermaking.
P&G has worked with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to create sustainable fuel supply "procurement standards," which complement P&G’s responsible wood fiber procurement policy for its tissue, towel, and absorbent hygiene business, as well as Constellation’s commitment to energy options for customers that benefit the environment.
