Portland General Electric's (PGE) Boardman Coal Plant is a 585-MW pulverized coal plant that has fallen under environmental regulations that left its owners three options: install expensive back-end emissions controls, close the plant completely, or switch to an environmentally friendly fuel. Recognizing that the relatively young, efficient plant retains value for utility customers that could justify operation for a significantly longer period, PGE has studied using biomass fuel to replace coal for several years, and in 2016 began a comprehensive series of single-mill and full-unit test burns with torrefied wood biomass fuel.
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