$150M power plant proposed for Barre.

• Position: LOCAL NEWS

Byline: James F. Russell

BARRE - GenPower Services LLC of Newton hopes to construct a 50-megawatt, $150 million, steam-generating, wood-fired BioMass power plant off South Barre Road where the Barre Wool Combing Co. used to operate.

Company officials met with selectmen Monday and said the first hurdle is finding out if an adequate water supply exists.

Kenneth Milne, GenPower's project manager, told selectmen 800,000 gallons to 1 million gallons of water would be needed every day to operate a successful power plant. He said the company is undertaking a feasibility study to find out if there is enough water, and the research should be completed by July. Without the availability of water, the project will not go forward, Mr. Milne said.

He estimated it would require about 600,000 tons of wood per year to fire the two steam machines that would create the electricity.

When asked by selectmen how many truckloads of wood would be needed per day, Mr. Milne said "about 70 deliveries per day." He said there is railroad accessibility to the plant and some of the wood could be shipped by freight cars.

Mr. Milne said the plant, if approved by state and local regulators, would be open "92 percent of the time," from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. or 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, and a half day Saturday.

The company's general counsel, lawyer Thomas D. Emero...