Holland Energy Park Air Permit Development

Project Overview

From its conception, Holland Energy Park has been dubbed the Resource, Destination and Gateway for the Holland Community. But it was no easy road for the staff at Holland Board of Public Works (BPW); a process that, in fact, would span nearly ten years. What emerged was a new 114 MW natural gas combined heat and power (CHP) plant and an agreement to purchase 17 MW of wind generation from the Beebe Wind Farm in Ithaca, MI. The new CHP will provide electricity, central district heating and snowmelt for the Holland community.

Project Scope

On April 26, 2013, NTH Consultants, Ltd. met with BPW and HDR, Inc. (Owner’s Engineer) to discuss the air permitting requirements. Over a period of 12-weeks NTH worked closely with HDR and Barton Malow as the facility design unfolded and new information was obtained. NTH calculated air emissions for several operational scenarios, including various turbine loads, startup, and shutdown; and evaluated applicable state and federal air quality regulations that may impact operation of the plant. An extensive air pollution control technology evaluation was also conducted.

Finally, NTH conducted a thorough ambient impact analysis using dispersion modeling techniques to determine concentrations of regulated air contaminants for comparison to health-based standards. Throughout the application development, NTH completed nearly 100 modeling runs at various exhaust stack locations and parameters, and operational scenarios to determine compliance with federal ambient air quality standards and state of Michigan air toxic health-based screening levels.

The permit application was submitted on July 22, 2013 and a final air permit was approved by the MDEQ on December 4, 2013.

Client Benefit

NTH’s knowledge of air permitting requirements and the permit review process enabled the Holland Board of Public Works to obtain an expedited air permit in less than six months.