Deltaway Operation Services, LLC, a major U.S.-based biomass and waste-to-energy facilities design and management firm, has announced that Akeida Capital Management Group has awarded the company a 10-year contract to provide management and operations services for two biomass-fueled power plants in California’s San Joaquin Valley.

The 12.5-megawatt power plants, in Chowchilla and El Nido, near Merced, were built in the 1980s, using the same design. Both are fueled by a mix of agricultural field waste, such as tree trimmings; and urban waste, mostly from construction; and nutshells. Akeida acquired both plants in 2011. Deltaway has retained most of the plants’ 40 employees, as well as plant manager Eric Bomgardner. In partnership with its client, Deltaway will apply its proven performance improvement tools and industry best practices to optimize both plants and reduce their operating costs.

“These two awards for long-term operations and management contracts are a significant milestone for Deltaway,” says Ken Boatwright, project manager and senior engineer. “They represent an important opportunity for us to demonstrate once again how our expertise in waste-to-energy can be applied on biomass plants.”

Biomass is an environmentally friendly alternative to fossil fuel because it comes from renewable resources and does not result in a net increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide. In addition, burning biomass reduces the need for landfill space, while ash from the plant can be recycled for agricultural and industrial purposes.