The Albany-Dougherty Payroll Development Authority today approved an inducement resolution and agreement in support of a proposed combined heat and power biomass facility to be co-located at the Albany Procter & Gamble Paper Products Co. that would create long-term gains for the local economy by strengthening existing industries, protecting jobs and positioning Albany as a premier location for renewable energy projects.

The utility scale biomass plant would be one of the largest in Georgia and on par with the top facilities across the United States, and represents up to $230 million of investment by Albany Green Energy, LLC. The potential project, which is being driven by Procter & Gamble, Constellation New Energy and Sterling Energy Assets, would create 25 to 35 full-time jobs and an average of 190 construction jobs across 21 months with a peak of 575 jobs, and create nearly $8 million in tax revenue over the life of the 23-year agreement.

“Today the development authority has taken an important step toward realizing such an innovative, important and unique project for Procter & Gamble and for Albany, who have a 30-year shared history,” said Jeff “Bodine” Sinyard, chair of the Albany-Dougherty Payroll Development Authority. “This project would strengthen the Albany facility within the Procter & Gamble structure, create jobs and business opportunities for Albany and Southwest Georgia, and through future collaboration, potentially benefit Marine Corps Logistics Base-Albany, another key employer and economic driver.

“We are pleased to be another key link in the chain of partners that are working to bring a facility of this magnitude to the Albany area,” Sinyard said.

The Albany facility, the second-largest of P&G’s paper products plants, currently utilizes renewable energy from an existing biomass boiler that provides a large portion of the

current steam load at the site. The new biomass project, along with associated upgrades within the manufacturing site, would allow P&G to offset a portion of their natural gas usage with renewable biomass from abundant local sources. This large scale partnership will help deliver renewable energy for Southwest Georgia while simultaneously helping P&G – the world’s largest consumer goods company – meet its goal of increasing its usage of renewable energy to 30 percent by 2020.

Beyond the advantages for P&G, the facility has the long term potential to also provide renewable steam for Marine Corps Logistics Base-Albany, helping the base toward its efforts to become the U.S. Department of Defense’s first net-zero installation. Already, about one-third of the base’s energy demand is met through a landfill-to-gas project with Dougherty County that harnesses methane gas output at the county landfill and converts it to energy for the base. This one-of-a-kind renewable-energy endeavor has earned the base numerous defense awards and recognitions.

“Benefits of the proposed biomass project are important to Marine Corps Logistics Base-Albany and the Southwest Georgia community,” said Col. Don Davis, commanding officer of MCLB-Albany. “First of all, it allows the installation to establish energy security. Secondly, the installation is postured to exceed all energy mandates whereby becoming the U.S. Department of Defense’s first net-zero installation. Finally, this project would generate a significant positive economic impact to Southwest Georgia for decades to come.”

The proposed biomass project would come online and begin producing renewable electricity for the grid in 2017.