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December 2, 2010

 Forsite Development Chooses ICM, Inc. To Provide Gasifier Technology for ReVenture Park – 145 new jobs to be created 

 
Forsite Development, lead developer for ReVenture Park, today announced its selection of the biomass gasifier technology for its proposed Waste-To-Energy (WTE) project. ReVenture Park will be utilizing a gasifier designed and commercialized by ICM, Inc. of Colwich, Kansas. EISENMANN Corporation of Crystal Lake, Illinois, will provide the Wet Electrostatic Precipitator (WESP) technology for emission abatement. “Forsite selected ICM after performing an exhaustive technology validation process to find a system that could produce the lowest emission footprint possible and provide the greatest potential for long term reliability,” said Tom McKittrick, president of Forsite. 

The ReVenture waste-to-energy project has two major components:

•  A Recycled Fuel Facility that is being developed in partnership with Charlotte-based FCR Casella, the sixth largest recycling firm in the U.S. and the operator of Mecklenburg County’s recycling center for the past 15 years. That project was recently announced on October 22. This $30 million facility will take Mecklenburg County’s residential garbage through a highly automated process that will remove additional recyclables and the materials that would cause air pollution such as PVC, electronics and batteries. The remaining “non-recyclable” material is shredded into an engineered fuel that transforms the garbage into a “Recycled Fuel” that will be used as the primary feedstock for ReVenture’s WTE facility.

•  This fuel will then be delivered to ReVenture where it will fuel the ICM gasification system producing 20 megawatts of clean electricity. The material will be converted into a syngas through a high heat, low oxygen process and will be used to fuel a traditional steam turbine electric power generation process, similar to a natural gas power plant. The capital investment for these facilities is estimated at $156 million and will create a total of 145 new jobs

Charlotte Chamber president Bob Morgan praised the latest development at ReVenture Park. “Forsite Development is on the cutting edge for alternative and renewable energy projects and we are pleased that Charlotte, Mecklenburg County and the Charlotte metro area will be beneficiaries of their work.” He added, “This continues a tidal wave of activity in the energy sector in Charlotte, joining other announcements in 2010 by Shaw Power Group, SPX, ABB, Siemens Energy, Siemens Nuclear, Babcock and Wilcox and Celgard that are positioning Charlotte as the New Energy Capital.”

The gasification system emissions expected for ReVenture Park are substantially lower than traditional mass burn combustion technologies. “Our gasifier technology can efficiently convert engineered fuel and deliver power to the grid. As a result of this process you will reduce the amount of fossil-fuel burned to make electricity as well as reducing the harmful air pollution and methane greenhouse gas emissions from landfills. We’re excited to be a part of Forsite’s ReVenture Park,” said Dave Vander Griend, president and CEO of ICM, Inc.

The gasification system can offer a solution that is projected to double Mecklenburg County’s recycling rates (raising them potentially as high as 40 percent) diverting over 85 percent of the current waste stream from going to the landfill, and creating enough electricity to power approximately 20,000 homes.

Click here to read the Official Forsite Development press release.

For more information:

Charlotte Chamber | 330 South Tryon Street | Charlotte, NC 28202 | 704.378.1300 | www.charlottechamber.com

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