ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Red Hills Ecoplex

The Concept
The Red Hills Ecoplex is an industrial ecology project comprised of 137 acres, created to build a network of environmentally friendly industries around the anchor tenants, the Red Hills Power Plant and the Red Hills Mine, to maximize community benefits. Companies that locate in the Red Hills Ecoplex might participate in exchange of by-products, whereby one company’s by-product becomes another company’s source of energy or another product. Given the right mix of tenants, the Ecoplex mimics a natural, efficient ecosystem. By working together, the community of businesses sees a collective benefit that is greater than the sum of individual benefits each company would realize by only optimizing its individual performance.

Companies locating in the Ecoplex may qualify for state or Federal environmental technology grants and regulatory allowances, as well as incentive programs based on industrial ecology, energy efficiency, and environmental design.

Location
The Red Hills Ecoplex is located about six miles north of Ackerman, west of Mississippi Highway 9, and about thirteen miles south of U.S. Highway 82, which provides direct four-lane access to Interstate 55. The Ecoplex is adjacent to and east of Pensacola Road, a paved road providing access from Mississippi Highway 9 to the power plant, mine, and Ecoplex property. The location adjacent to the power plant and mine maximizes the efficiency of transferring energy and materials between the facilities. The site is gently sloping to flat rural land, with physical characteristics favorable for industrial use.

Construction of a second power plant was recently completed. Choctaw Gas Generation is a 700 MW gas burning power plant on 50 acres adjacent to the Ecoplex, and may provide further opportunities for by-product exchange.

Infrastructure
The primary components of the infrastructure installed in the Ecoplex include:

• 3,200 linear feet of roadway
• 6,150 linear feet of water main
• 2,400 linear feet of sewer lines, a pump station and force main
• 2 cleared sites of about 2.5 acres each

Anchor Tenants
The Red Hills Power Plant, with the world’s largest circulating fluidized bed machine, is a 440 megawatt lignite-fired facility which operates at temperatures that keep airborne ozone precursors extremely low. The Red Hills Power Plant supplies electricity to the Tennessee Valley Authority under a 30 year contract agreement, and is owned by Choctaw Generation, LLP, an affiliate of Suez Energy North America. The Red Hills Power Plant began commercial production of electricity in April, 2002.

Choctaw Gas Generation began commercial operation in January, 2007. The plant is a zero liquid discharge facility, meaning that all process water remains on site or is evaporated. Choctaw Gas employs 11 people, and is a merchant plant which means that power sales are not guaranteed and market conditions dictate the sale of power.

Construction began in August, 2002 of the new 700-megawatt steam-electric power plant powered by dual natural gas-fired turbines. When operating at full capacity, this combined cycle plant can produce the power equivalent to supply 576,000 homes.

Choctaw Gas Generation, LLC is operated by Suez Energy Generation NA (SEGNA). SEGNA is the business unit of SUEZ Energy North America responsible for managing the company’s power operations in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. SUEZ Energy Generation NA is headquartered in Houston, TX. They currently own and/or operate a total of 44 power, cogeneration, steam, and chilled-water facilities, representing a capacity of more than 5,538 MW of electricity generation, 7.0 million pounds per hour of steam, and 65,000 tons of chilled water. The facilities use a variety of fuels to produce power, heat and cooling.

Mississippi Lignite Mining Company was formed to supply lignite coal to the Red Hills Power Plant. It is an affiliate of The North American Coal Corporation, the largest lignite producer in the United States. Operating six different lignite surface mines, North American Coal produces over 30 million tons annually. The Red Hills mine has a permitted area of 5,830 acres with reserves of over 200 million tons of mineable lignite.

Our Newest Tenant
We are pleased to welcome the newest addition to the Red Hills Ecoplex, Silverado Green Fuels, Inc. Silverado Green Fuels will utilize a hydrothermal process to produce a low-rank coal-water fuel (LRCWF) from lignite mined by North American Coal. It is a low cost, non-toxic, non-hazardous and environmentally friendly substitute for petroleum derived fuels mainly in industrial and utility boilers, gasifiers, and other advanced combustors. Silverado Green Fuel, Inc. has entered into an agreement with the Choctaw County Economic Development District, the Mississippi Development Authority, and Choctaw County to build and operate a $26 million production and boiler testing demonstration facility.

Choctaw county economic development foundation • p.o. box 737 • ackerman, mississippi
Telephone: 662-285-3778 • fax 662-285-2440