Placer signs deal to construct biomass facility

Placer County has signed an agreement for Phoenix Energy to build and operate the biomass gasification plant between Tahoe City and Truckee.

The 2-megawatt plant will use forest biomass from the area to make electricity, heat and biochar, which is a solid carbon byproduct that is used as a soil conditioner and filter media.

The Lake Tahoe project is Phoenix Energy’s third biomass gasification plant in California. When it is fully operational it will be the company’s largest plant.

“I believe there is a great opportunity for small community scale biomass plants to produce clean renewable energy for California and our third plant shows the technology is gaining momentum,” Phoenix Energy CEO Gregory Stangl said in a statement.

The plant will be run as a subsidiary of San Francisco-based Phoenix Energy.

Placer County for years has been seeking to develop an alternative to open burning of large piles of slash.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report