Camptonville Biomass Plant

Yuba Water Agency is a supporting partner of the Camptonville Community Partnership's efforts to build a 3-megawatt biomass plant in Camptonville, within Yuba County and the Yuba River watershed. Building a biomass plant in Yuba County ties in perfectly with the purpose of Yuba Water’s other forest health efforts and the North Yuba Forest Partnership because all of these projects include significant forest thinning actions that are best accompanied with a biomass utilization strategy. Currently, projects within Yuba County and the North Yuba Forest Partnership project area require contractors to truck removed woody material from the forest to existing biomass plants that are several hours away. Having a biomass plant in Camptonville will not only reduce the cost of implementation for regional projects, but will also bolster the local community with new jobs and business opportunities. 

The planned biomass plant would process forest biowaste from forest health projects and use it to generate clean electricity, creating a regional market for forest waste material. Fuel for the biomass plant would come from fuel load reduction efforts to make a healthier forest. The proposed plant will have the capacity to process 40,000 bone dry tons of woody material per year. One bone dry ton is equivalent to 2,000 pounds of woody material containing less than one percent moisture content.