Cocoa Power
The Sweet Smell of Success
Following a successful pilot program in 2009, PSNH is collaborating with premium chocolate maker Lindt USA to burn cocoa bean shells for electricity generation at PSNH’s Schiller Station power plant in Portsmouth.
The cocoa bean shells are a by-product of Lindt’s manufacturing process at its nearby facility in Stratham. The company recently expanded its facility to incorporate the chocolate production process, which had previously taken place in Europe.
Early in 2010, New Hampshire’s Department of Environmental Services approved PSNH and Lindt’s plan to incorporate cocoa bean shells as a supplementary fuel source at Schiller Station on a more permanent basis.
The burning of biomass at Schiller Station reduces the amount of carbon dioxide that the power plant would otherwise emit through the burning of fossil fuels.