The Ely City Council approved a request to apply for two grants that will be used to help fund the biomass energy project being studied by Ely’s Alternative Energy Task Force.

To best share resources and generate political clout, Ely has partnered with Grand Marais to obtain funding for a biomass system in each city. Officially, the effort is called the Boundary Waters Renewable District Energy and Combined Heat and Power Initiative.

Ely Task Force Chair Kurt Soderberg provided council members with an update at the council’s regular business meeting on Tuesday night.

He told the council that the application for a $12 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy that the two cities would share was not on the list of approvals announced earlier in the day. Recipients tended to be large industries. He added that he was not sure if another list of secondary approvals was forthcoming.

But Soderberg said the task force is not at the end of the road in pursuing other funding sources. They will apply for a $50,000 grant from the U.S. Forest Service and a $10,000 grant from Clean Energy Resource Teams.

The task force has already procured $10,000 for a feasibility study for the project. Of that amount, Blandin Foundation has contributed $5,000, IRR granted $4,000 and the city added $1,000.

Soderberg said they hope to have the study in hand by the second week of November. When it arrives, they will review it carefully and consider options for proceeding.

He explained that “biomass” means a wood fuel system. It can operate from wood waste that is abundant around Ely, like bark and other low-quality wood.

The Turboden ORC system that would be used converts biomass to hot water heat and electrical power for district energy. It comes with a $12 million price tag per facility. Ely and Grand Marais would each have needed to match the Department of Energy grant to obtain their share.

Once completed, the system would initially be used for larger energy consumers like city buildings, the hospital, the school and the college. After this first phase, smaller businesses and approximately 600 homes within a specified area of the city could hook into the system.

Project organizers have said the benefits of district energy are numerous. The technology can provide $1.8 million in energy savings to the city per year while removing 17,000 tons of carbon per year from the air. Biomass is readily available in northeastern Minnesota and the community wouldn’t have to rely as much on oil and propane. What’s more, 53 long- and short-term local jobs would be created.

Soderberg said that the task force is considering two or three potential sites for the facility. One is near the softball fields and another is on the opposite side of town. He added they want a location that is somewhat removed from the inner areas of the city and won’t create controversy.

In other matters, the council did not renew the city’s service contract with the Morse-Fall Lake First Responders. According to Ely Fire Chief Lou Gerzin, the Ely department has a sufficient number of First Responders in their program to handle calls within the city.