WBDec21pgs_cs.qxp_Wood Bioenergy Magazine 11/9/21 8:18 AM Page 8
■ in the news FS Says Biomass Should Drive 4FRI Following its cancellation of the Phase 2 Request for Proposal (RFP) and bid selection in September, which caught everybody by surprise, the Forest Service “has gone back to work” on how to move forward with stewardship and treatment of the 520,000 acres that was included in Phase 2, which was part of the 4 Forests Restoration Initiative (4FRI) seeking to improve forest health conditions on 2.4 million acres across four Arizona national forests while enhancing wood products manufacturing and biomass processing infrastructure. The agency hosted an industry roundtable of 4FRI stakeholders on October 12 in Heber, Ariz. that addressed restoration strategies and “lessons learned.” Biomass disposal and bioelectricity were emphasized at the meeting as the key components in any path moving forward. The stakeholders group opened the door to another large-scale proposal or a combination of new agreements and contracts. They also emphasized the importance of accelerating the pace and scale of restoration treatments, while supporting sustainable forest restoration industries. “The bottom line is that bioelectricity was the solution for all known bidders in the RFP in relation to the disposal of the low value biomass,” comments Brad Worsley, president of Novo Power, a producer of biomass electricity in Snowflake, Ariz. “We believe and seem to have support for the fact that there is no reason to move forward with any future RFP or GNA Stewardship Agreement that does not first assure that current bioelectricity in the state has been given the needed PPA (Power Purchase Agreement) extensions.” Novo Power has PPAs with Arizona Public Services (APS) and Salt River Project (SRP), Arizona’s two largest electric utilities. The stakeholders group also reemphasized the need to reduce fi-
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nancial costs and risks to industry, investors and the government in potential uncertain environments over 20 years. This had been cited as the main reason for the agency’s cancellation of the Phase 2 process. Two companies were apparently the primary bidders—one proposing to build a sawmill and the other proposing to build an OSB plant. Novo Power participated in both of those bids to take the biomass resulting from the two projects. “I was stunned by the cancellation,” Worsley comments. “I knew that there was always a possibility of cancellation but the stated reasons for cancellation were true a year ago; the USFS should have cancelled then if the gap could not be bridged.” Worsley pointed to the agency’s growing concerns over the financial ramifications for the government and the project bidders if the promised acreage for treatment ran into issues or even if the reduced acreage was sufficient. Novo Power has less than two years remaining on its current PPAs. “At this point we need resolution on our PPAs so that we can move forward, invest and maintain the critical employee base that we have today,” Worsley says. “We will support whatever comes in the future but our future needs certainty now.” For Novo Power the Phase 2 RFP represented a stranglehold on collaboration. “Meetings between state and federal agencies, industry and NGOs became nearly impossible without undermining the integrity of the RFP and so many of the collaborative efforts died on the vine,” Worsley says. “It has also been a reminder of the disrespect shown to current industry. We all want a new shiny industry member but we put at risk the current industry, and in the end we are still the ones here and doing the work at the end of this very painful RFP process.” Novo Power has been involved in utilizing material produced in ongoing forest health operations in
Novo Power’s biomass electricity plant could be the key to a successful 4FRI.
the White Mountains area, but its 24 MW facility can only process so much. Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey and other elected officials slammed the Phase 2 cancellation decision, citing the federal government’s inability to step up to address wildfire risks and protect Arizona communities. The Phase 2 setback continues a tough run for the 4FRI effort: Phase 1, initially awarded in 2012 then transferred in 2013 to its current owner, NewLife Forest Restoration, and including 300,000 acres over 10 years, has been hampered due to lack of logging and conversion capacity and is just now appearing to turn the corner on infrastructure needs while the number of acres actually treated remain well below initial projections. NewLife, which plans to build a sawmill at Bellemonte, Ariz., was apparently one of the major bidders for the Phase 2 contract. John Godfrey, owner of Godfrey Forest Products, was also a bidder and proposed to build an OSB plant at a site already selected in Winslow. He says the announcement came as a surprise, but he remains confident any issues will be resolved. The FS is committed to forest restoration, Godfrey believes. “They’re also under tremendous pressure. They’ll come forward with a new mechanization or proposal. It can’t be that nothing happens.” In addition to a site for the plant, Godfrey’s OSB project has com-
Wood Bioenergy / December 2021
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