Utility sells Neenah electricity plant

NEENAH, WISCONSIN - Wisconsin Energy Corp. has sold its Minergy plant in Neenah, which converts paper mill sludge to steam and electricity, to Thermagen Power Group.

The new buyer's said they will keep the plant open as an employer of nearly 30 people in the Fox Valley area.

The sale price was not given. Wisconsin Energy, the parent of Minergy Corp., said it had been looking for a buyer that would keep the plant open, even though the plant lost a key customer this year when Glatfelter of York, Pa., closed its nearby paper mill.Though it's selling the waste-to-energy operation in Neenah, Minergy is retaining a spinoff technology from the plant.

The technology takes the dry matter left over from the wastewater treatment process and melts it into a glass aggregate product, said Minergy general manager Terry Carroll.That technology is being deployed for the first time in Zion, Ill., in conjunction with the North Shore Sanitary District, Carroll said.The Minergy Neenah plant has been operating at about half of its output this summer after Glatfelter closed its Neenah mill.

In 2004, Minergy renegotiated its contract with Glatfelter to help the Pennsylvania-based papermaker avoid closing the mill at that time.Thermagen is a Chicago-based privately held company that builds, owns and operates cogeneration facilities, and specializes in power plants that are experiencing tough financial conditions, said Tom Shepard, a managing partner with Thermagen.

The plant has been renamed the Fox Valley Energy Center."We're in the business of owning and operating these plants, not shutting them down," Shepard said.Thermagen has other plants in Ohio and Massachusetts.

The Neenah plant has continued to accept sludge from its paper mill customers in the Fox Valley area but will look to expand the number of steam customers and possibly expand its generation of electricity, Shepard said. Recycling paper mill sludge helps keep down landfill costs and saves space in the Winnebago County landfill.The Minergy facility in Neenah has been for sale for more than a year.