Better BTU Project Update: Dynamis Energy

No one ever said that breaking into the renewable energy industry was easy and Dynamis Energy has faced obstacles on several fronts in the last month.

We first reported on the Eagle, Idaho company in a Mar. 29, 2012 entry entitled Dynamis Energy: Oh The Places You'll Go. We discussed the company’s strategy of partnering with local firms on several continents to find projects. We examined projects in the various stages of proposal in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Italy and South America.

Politics have been heating up in Ada County, Idaho as the proposed project at the county-owned Hidden Hollow landfill moves closer to construction. Ada County agreed to lease the land to Dynamis in 2010 for $1/year for 20 years in return for the company building and operating a gasification facility that would generate 20 MW of electricity. Idaho Power has signed a purchase power agreement.

Residents of Hidden Springs listen to Dynamis Energy at
the public forum on Apr. 26. Courtesy: Idaho Statesman.

Dynamis filed for an air permit on Apr. 25^th to the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality. The DEQ has 90 days to respond, but as several of us in the industry know, that timeline can be stretched since the clock doesn’t start until the DEQ deems the application “complete.”

In the meantime, public forums have been held at Hidden Springs (Apr. 26) and Rivergien Junior High (May 3) where several critics have voiced outrage at the county’s $2 million investment in the project. Ada County paid the fee for project designs in effort to jumpstart the project. County Commissioner Sharon Ullman defends the decision by explaining that Dynamis will not be granted a building permit until it has repaid the money. She assures skeptics that there are other provisions in place in case the project falls through.

But the controversy of the project has become a central issue in the primary race for two commissioner seats. Of the five candidates running, two are opposed to the project and a change in government leadership could spell trouble for Dynamis. Additionally, the company is in a race against the clock as it must by operating by Dec. 31, 2013 in order to qualify for a federal grant that will cover up to 30% of the cost. The facility must be supplying power by Feb. 14, 2014 in order to satisfy the agreement with Idaho Power. Dynamis CEO C. Lloyd Mahaffey says that the plant will take 15 months to build and construction will start in July.

To complicate matters, several Dynamis executives have had personal financial and legal problems hit the press in the last month. The Idaho Statesman reported that Mahaffey and Senior Vice President of Corporate Development John A. Johnston owe almost $400,000 in back property taxes for 124 parcels of land in their Eagle Springs/Southfork Landing development located in Garden Valley. The pair have until July 23^rd to resolve the issue. Meanwhile, Senior Vice President of Legal and Finance Wade Devin Thomas currently has a federal tax lien of $318,370.10 that was filed in January 2011 for four years of IRS assessments. Additionally, he has a $5,679.99 state tax lien for unpaid 2009 taxes that was filed in Nov. 2010.

The most recent blow to Dynamis came last Thursday when Judy Shelton of Synergy Renewables announced that the company had legally dissolved its cooperative agreement with Dynamis last month. Dynamis had signed the agreement with Synergy and Primoris Renewables to build two waste-to-energy facilities in Puerto Rico. Primoris CFO Peter J. Moerbeek confirmed that the agreement had been dissolved but no one has offered an explanation why.

BETTER BTU TAKE: If you can’t take the heat, get out of the gasification industry. The company appears to still be on track for its facility in Ada County despite obvious concerns by citizens. It’s pretty unusual to see a municipality invest in a technology and its received lots of criticism by some residents for it. Based on the website and reported conversations from Idaho Statesman writer Cynthia Sewell, the company isn’t concerned with its public image and that may be a mistake. Executives obviously haven’t made friends with the reporter and depending on the outcome of the election, things could only get harder. Thomas is right when he says that his personal financial welfare doesn’t affect the company, but it doesn’t look great when three of your top executives owe the government large sums of back taxes…especially when you are trying to convince financers to write large checks. We’ll be interested to see how things progress.

For More Information:

Hidden Springs Residents Want to Know More About Waste-to-Energy Plant, The Idaho Statesman, 4/19/2012

County Candidates, Critics Take On Ada County Garbage-to-Gas Plan, The Idaho Statesman, 5/3/2012

Eagle Company No Longer Part of Puerto Rico Waste-to-Energy Project, The Idaho Statesman, 5/12/2012

Other Better BTU Blog Posts on Dynamis: 

Project Update: Local Energy Company Becomes Latest Stumbling Block for Dynamis (July 31, 2012)

Project Update: Turning Up the Heat in Ada County (June 21, 2012)

Dynamis Energy:Oh the Places You'll Go (Mar. 29, 2012)

Dynamis Energy: Oh The Places You’ll Go

For most companies, securing the first commercial contract can be a long and tedious process. It can take years to refine the technology, find a way to lower production costs and find the right client. While Dynamis Energy hasn’t yet crossed the finish line with a completed commercial project, its making moves on several continents.

Dynamis Energy is the creator of the 3.0 Waste-to-Energy Technology, a waste-to-energy system that is similar in some regards to the TOS Plant that has been operating in Barrow, Alaska since 1996. The Eagle, Idaho company’s simple design makes it easy to operate and relatively low-cost; something investors can get on board with.

In the last two years, Dynamis has announced plans to build several facilities on three different continents. The first, and most promising, projects began in its home state of Idaho. Hired by Ada County in June 2010, Dynamis signed on to build a facility at the Hidden Hollow Landfill in Boise. The company will lease the landfill for $1/year for 20 years and build a facility that will process 250 tons of solid waste per day in exchange. On Feb. 24, the Idaho Public Utilities Commission announced that it had approved the rate contract and that Idaho Power will sign a 20-year sales agreement. Operation is currently set to begin on Feb. 14, 2014.

Dynamis Energy's 3.0 Waste-to-Energy Technology

Eight months later, Clark County followed suit. After establishing the Eastern Idaho Regional Solid Waste District and completing a feasibility study, the county hired Dynamis to build 120,000 ton per year facility that will generate 13.5 MW of electricity. Rocky Mountain Power will purchase the power from Dynamis. The plant will be built in the Centennial Energy Park located East of Dubois. Construction will begin this summer and hopes to be finished within 15 months.

In February, Dynamis received good news on a project it has in the words in Puerto Rico. Dallas-based contractors Primoris Renewables announced it signed a $40 million contract to build two waste-to-energy facilties, working alongside Synergy Renewables and Dynamis. The plants will each process 180,000 tons annually to produce 10 MW of power.

In June 2011, the Idaho company announced it had entered a joint venture with All Way for the construction and management of a facility that will be integrated with an existing waste management plant in Lombardo, Italy. Permits have already been secured and construction was scheduled to start in late 2011, although we haven’t been able to find confirmation that it has started. The facility is currently scheduled to go online in fall 2012.

As if it wasn’t busy enough, Dynamis Energy announced in October 2011 that it was partnering with Planova, a Sao Paulo-based development firm, to pursue opportunities in South America. The pair will focus primarily on possibilities in Argentina, Brazil and Peru.

Better BTU Take: This company is on the move! We love that Dynamis is partnering with local firms to tap into foreign markets. It should keep the small company from becoming overextended. The question will be how many of these projects come to fruition – the announcement to completion ratio isn’t favorable and the more public projects that fail to cross the finish line, the harder it is for our industry to convince others of its legitimacy. Still, the projects seem headed in the right direction and the one in Boise has sparked interest for other counties in Idaho and Wyoming. This is a difficult company to keep up with due to the fact that their website is tragically out of date, but we’ll do our best to bring you the updates here!

Idaho Public Utilities Commission Press Release (Feb. 24, 2012) - PUC Approves Idaho Power Contract with Landfill Waste-to-Energy Project

Waste Management World (Feb. 1, 2012) - $40 Million Waste to Energy Gasificaation Contract for Dallas Firm

Dynamis Press Release (Nov. 11, 2011) - Dynamis Energy and Planova Sign Agreement to Construct Waste-to-Energy Plants in Brazil

Dynamis Press Release (June 9, 2011) - Dynamis Energy and All Way Sign Agreement to Construct Waste-to-Energy Plant in Lombardy, Italy

Waste Management World (Feb. 18, 2011) - 120,000 Ton Waste to Energy Gasification Facility Planned in Eastern Idaho

Other Better BTU Blog Posts on Dynamis: 

Project Update: Local Energy Company Becomes Latest Stumbling Block for Dynamis (July 31, 2012)

Project Update: Turning Up the Heat in Ada County (June 21, 2012)

Better BTU Project Update: Dynamis Energy (May 14, 2012)