by David Flint
Congressman Chris Gibson on a visit to Berlin on Wednesday was impressed with what’s going on at Green Renewable, the company that occupies the former W.J. Cowee plant. Noting that the company uses smart, clean and renewable energy and has increased the number of jobs from nine to 32 in just the last six months, he concluded that, “This company represents what I believe will be a bright future for Rensselaer County.” [private]This area, he said, is leading the country in things clean and renewable and the Berlin company is at the forefront of that trend. He was impressed, too, with two planned developments that will make the plant more efficient and also benefit the environment. As Green Renewable President Sean Gallivan pointed out, the company expects by the end of 2013 to be generating enough electricity from micro-steam turbine generators and from a solar energy farm to enable them to go off the grid and provide clean and inexpensive power to other companies renting space at the site he calls the Northeast Green Center.
Gallivan took Gibson and about 50 other guests on a tour of the plant. The group included Rensselaer County Executive Kathy Jimino, County Legislators Stan Brownell and Lester Goodermote, Berlin Town Supervisor Rob Jaeger, Empire State Forest Products Association CEO Eric Carlson and other community leaders and local business owners. Gallivan told the group not to expect any $20 million “clean room” as might be found at Global Foundries. “This is a real working facility created in 1898,” he said. He showed the group how wood chips are
ground to the right size and how they are fed into the boiler and gasifiers to make steam. The steam heats 83,000 square feet of building space and runs the kiln that dries the Burn Rite firewood that is certified bug free. Steam also produces electricity. Gallivan said he has a $4½ million project in the works to update the turbine and generator
system that in the past provided power not only to the Cowee plant but also to homes up and down the valley. The new equipment will be 98% efficient. When that happens, he said, the plant will be saving $250,000 a year in energy costs, it will be using more wood fuel, more loggers will be put to work and more employees will be working at the plant. Renewable energy, he said, employs a lot of people.
Gallivan also showed the processes involved in cutting and drying and bagging the firewood. One new innovation in marketing is a “Super Sack” that holds exactly 1/3 of a cord of clean, bug-free, kiln-dried firewood. These sacks can be delivered to a home or business and placed precisely and neatly where the buyer wants it. No dumping a load in your driveway. Businesses, such as “a certain large barbecue restaurant company,” have found this type of delivery very efficient.
County Executive Jimino noted that the Cowee site had a great impact in Eastern Rensselaer County for over 100 years but had fallen on hard times. Now, she said, Gallivan was transforming the site, bringing back the vitality and
the jobs – a number of new jobs already with a promise of more to come. “You are growing jobs and bringing in other companies to take advantage of the energy that’s produced here,” she said, “and doing that with clean, renewable energy, contributing to a clean environment and our ability as a nation to power ourselves rather than depending on foreign oil.”
Following the tour, the Green Renewable company treated all those participating to a splendid spread of food and drink and everyone got to take home some complimentary firewood.
Town Supervisor Rob Jaeger was enthusiastic. “It’s not very often we get our Congressman out here for an official visit,” he said. “It’s great to see this happening. As Kathy Jimino said, this has been a boon for us in Eastern Rensselaer County. I just hope he continues to grow and expand. Hopefully, this will be a harbinger of things to come.”
[/private]