A few weeks ago, I wrote a story about the 2,000-MW Eggborough Power Station in North Yorkshire, England, and how it had officially decided that it would close, and not convert to biomass, which was once deemed a viable option.

Less than a week later, I wrote a story on Active Energy Group, which, via joint venture AEG CoalSwitch Ltd. with Biomass for Energy and technology provider Biomass Energy Enhancements LLC, is working to commercialize a biomass pretreatment technology that enables biomass to be utilized as a direct replacement for coal or used for cofiring,

This week, those stories appearted to have merged—I saw that a U.K. news outlet reported that AEG CoalSwitch was in talks with Eggborough about working with them to extend its life using the technology. A ton of other news outlets have posted similar stories with varying headlines, some of which suggest the technology is going to save the plant and all of its jobs.

I checked in with Biomass Energy Enhancements CEO Chaz Fritz to see whether or not that was true, and he clarified things for me.

As I suspected, the reports I had seen are inaccurate—Active Energy had previously referenced the plant as one that could benefit from utilization of its technology (some outlets must have run with that/misconstrued it) and has been in communication the facility, but AEG’s board is stressing that all discussions are at a very early stage, and no commitments have been made.

A statement from CEO Richard Spinx, who said he has recently personally met with coal-fired power plant owners in Eastern Europe, Canada and the U.S., as well as some wood pellet manufacturers: “Any suggestion that AEG has selected a particular coal-fired electricity generating plant or company is premature, and any such agreement would be announced through the proper regulatory channels…”

All of that said, perhaps it is indeed an option for Eggborough, time will tell. It would be great to see.

AEG expects to complete its first high-volume production facility by mid-2016 Here’s more about the technology,

 On a related note, this got me thinking again of the 550-MW Boardman Power Plant in Oregon, the state’s last operating coal-fired power plant. Its coal-burning timeframe is dwindling, as the plant will have to switch fuels and close down by 2020. Portland General Electric's original plan was to operate the plant until 2040, but it would require installation over $500 million of pollution control equipment on the plant by 2017 in order to comply with federal and state clean air standards. That option has been ruled out.

For a long time, Boardman has been contemplating and investigating biomass and different technologies related to its use, including torrefaction. The last time I spoke with them was about a year ago while working to gather data for our annual biomass power map, and was told not to categorize it as a proposed plant yet, rather, a research project (I believe they did some torrefied wood test burns earlier this year).

I think my next blog is writing itself. Stay tuned for a potential update on where things are at with this plant.