Techno-economic study for a coal fired boiler conversion to biomass co-firing

Despite the fact that the AMPC 2024 Environmental Performance Review revealed that the use of on-site coal fired boilers has been shrinking, there is still 15% of total sector thermal energy coming from coal fired boilers. This is most likely due to the significant cost in replacing systems and a lack of efficient fuel management. The current project proposes to evaluate if a large throughput (> 900 hd/day) beef processor can safely move from coal fire boilers to biomass through progressive cofiring of biomass using existing systems. This is the last renewable energy option for moving away from coal, and it has never been reported on for the red meat industry. If successful it will mean that red meat processors could progressively reduce coal usage to 0% over time. The project is forecasted to add $2.05/head of value, and cut GHG by 10,772 T Co2-e/pa (39%). In the absence of a carbon price, coal is very cheap at $10.52/GJ. This is 50% to 120% cheaper per unit than other industrial facilities using fossil fuelled boilers (i.e. natural gas or LPG). The project will complete techno-economic and FEED studies for; * conversion of a coal fired boiler to operate on woodchips cofiring while maintaining coal as a backup fuel, * assessment of the processor industry for similar opportunities to help a progressive move away from the remaining onsite coal fired boilers, * enable on-site industry knowledge sharing, and * consider the single biomass business case, as well as potential for a multi-fuel biomass.