Tag Archives: biomass

Fibrek has concluded an agreement for the sale of green energy produced at its cogeneration facilities located at the Saint-Félicien mill in connection with Hydro-Québec Distribution’s Power Purchase Program for electricity derived from forest biomass cogeneration (PAE 2011-01), which was launched on December 20, 2011.

The 33.23 MW of green energy currently produced by Fibrek will be sold to Hydro-Québec Distribution beginning on May 5, 2012 at a price of $106 per megawatt per hour, indexed to the consumer price index (CPI) for a 25-year period. The contract will generate approximately $16 million a year in EBITDA.

“This production will further increase the previously announced 9.56 MW that Fibrek will be supplying to the government corporation starting in December 2012. By the end of this year, the Saint-Félicien mill will be producing 42.79 MW in green energy for Hydro-Québec Distribution,” said Fibrek’s CEO Pierre Gabriel Côté.

“Revenue diversification is a key component of our business plan. In addition, increasing our green energy production fits well within our sustainable development plan and reflects our vision when it comes to innovation for growth,” concluded Côté.

Fibrek is investing approximately $37 million in the construction of a new power plant that will be used to produce the additional 9.56 MW. Over the long term, green energy production will ensure the competitive position of the Saint-Félicien NBSK pulp mill despite the challenges facing the pulp and paper industry. The leadership demonstrated by the executive team in obtaining this new contract will consolidate jobs and secure the future of the mill.

Source: Fibrek

Domtar‘s mill in Dryden, Ontario will be home to a new research project that will test the conversion of wood waste into a bio-oil.

The project is a being initiated by Domtar and Battelle. Battelle is the world’s largest, independent research and development organization. The total project value will be up to $14 million.

The Centre for Research and Innovation in the Bio-Economy (CRIBE) is providing up to $6 million for the project.

The project aims to develop a unique, cost-effective system that if successful, will increase operational efficiencies and create a fossil fuel alternative for transportation fuels.

This system uses “fast pyrolysis” technology, a process that rapidly converts biomass using heat without oxygen to produce crude bio-oil and gas. The key to Battelle’s approach is in the treatment and processing of this crude bio-oil to a “drop-in fuel”, which can be blended directly with gasoline or diesel fuel.

Domtar Dryden will use wood waste, which is currently burned for low value, as the biomass feedstock for the process. If successful, the bio-oil will be used to blend into the fuel for Domtar’s vehicle fleet or it could be used internally to offset the use of natural gas.

One of the big advantages to Battelle’s system is that its unique design requires far less energy to produce the same fuel product as existing “fuel from wood” technology. As well, because it simply adds to an existing operation, it reduces capital and operating costs, making it more economically viable.

In this two phase project, phase 1 will utilize wood waste from Domtar’s Dryden mill to produce the higher value bio-oil. Once the process is optimized and results are demonstrated, phase two involves the construction of a 100 ton/day pilot plant, to be integrated into Domtar Dryden’s facility.

This project will put Northern Ontario on the cutting edge of new technology in the forestry sector. Once developed it could be applied to many forestry operations across the North to add a high value revenue stream and reduce business costs. This in turn will sustain jobs at the mill level and increase demand for products and services of supporting industries including forest harvesting, construction, maintenance, transportation and research and development industries.

“This exciting partnership is developing technology with the potential to transform the forest products industry in Northern Ontario,” said Michael Gravelle, Minister of Natural Resources. “It is a tremendous opportunity that will strengthen the sector, and our economy, so that we can continue to support strong communities in the North.”

“This project is a tremendous opportunity for forestry operations,” said Lorne Morrow, CEO for CRIBE. “Having such a prominent international R&D company working on one of our projects is a huge win for CRIBE and northern Ontario as a whole.”

“We are pleased with this opportunity to help develop, demonstrate and commercialize this innovative technology,” said Bruno Marcoccia, Director of Research and Development at Domtar. “It will be good news for everyone if we are successful.”

“We’re pleased to be partnering with CRIBE and Domtar on this exciting project,” said Charles Lucius, Battelle’s Vice President for Energy Sustainability Solutions. “This is our first time working on this type of project in Ontario and we are really looking forward to it.”

Sources: Domtar, Battelle, CRIBE

West Fraser Timber Company is considering building identical, biomass-powered generation plants at two of its subsidiaries in British Columbia.

The plants are being planned in response to BC Hydro’s “Bioenergy Call to Power” program to acquire and provide cost-effective, clean, renewable energy.

Source: Industrial Info Resources

Remember the plan to burn wood in Port Hawkesbury to create power for Nova Scotia Power?

You may have been thinking that plan was dead now that the NewPage mill is being idled, but you may be wrong.

Nova Scotia Power included a clause in the original agreement specifying that if NewPage goes out of business, the province has agreed to give Nova Scotia Power access to the wood needed for the plant.

What does that mean? It means Nova Scotia Power has the right to harvest their required 175,000 tonnes of biomass from Crown Land.

The biomass plant, worth $200 million, is expected to be complete in 2012. It is being constructed to fulfill the province’s desire to have 25% of its power generated by renewable sources by 2015.

Neal Livingston, a small hydro producer and an environmentalist, told the CBC, that the power utility has no experience in forestry, but his strongest criticism is reserved for the government’s decision to handover a big chunk of the province’s wood supply with no public discussion.

“This should be a complete scandal that the government gave them this right to Crown land. I mean, anybody who would want to buy NewPage is suddenly buying them without their biomass supply and without the ability to generate their own power if they want to do that. So, effectively, it’s a much diminished asset,” said Livingston.

A Natural Resources Department spokesman said the province has agreed to supply wood from its Crown land to keep the mill’s boiler running if it does cease operations.

Read more:
N.S. Power given rights to Crown wood: critic – Biomass plant will operate even if NewPage fails (CBC)

The Centre for Research and Innovation in the Bio-Economy (CRIBE) has announced a $923,261 investment to expand Elementa Group’s Pre-Commercial Demonstration Plant in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

This funding will allow Elementa to make the necessary modifications to begin using forest biomass as an additional feedstock.

The current Elementa process uses municipal solid waste to produce a high quality synthetic gas (syngas).

The upgrade will allow Elementa to do the same thing with forest biomass, the waste material from forestry operations such as tree tops, branches and foliage.

Converting this plant to also use forest biomass as a feedstock will demonstrate the viability of forest residue as a renewable energy source.

It is clean, highly efficient and supports the global effort to reduce greenhouse gases and commercialize alternative energy production.

Elementa currently employs 20 people and the addition of forest biomass to the process is expected to create five to six direct jobs.

“Sault Ste. Marie is surrounded by an abundant supply of renewable forest biomass and residual waste. Instead of this waste counting as an overhead cost to the industry, now we can convert it into a renewable energy source,” said Frank Dottori, chair of the CRIBE board. “This is just the beginning, with an existing infrastructure and government policy, Ontario has the opportunity to present itself as a world leader in the biomass-to-energy market.”

The Centre for Research and Innovation in the Bio-Economy is a provincial initiative to transform the forest products industry in Northern Ontario. CRIBE is an independent, not-for-profit research corporation, with $25 million in funding provided by the government of Ontario, that partners closely with other relevant organizations to provide support to direct and turn research results and innovative business opportunities into operational realities.

Elementa Group is a Canadian controlled private corporation located in Niagara-on-the-Lake and Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.

The Sault Ste. Marie (SSM) site offers a research and development pilot plant where a team of engineers and scientists developed the Elementa Process.

The patented Elementa Process (EP) is an endothermic, noncombustion process that features a water-based chemistry for the clean conversion of carbon-based materials into energy.

Source: Elementa Group

Nova Scotia has decided to lower the cap on the annual amount of new forest biomass that can be used to generate electricity by 30% – to 350,000 dry tonnes per year.

The reduction is to protect the sustainability of Nova Scotia’s forests, while still keeping the province on track to meet its renewable energy goals.

“As we work to meet our target to generate 40 per cent of the province’s electricity from renewable sources by 2020, we are continually assessing our information,” said Charlie Parker, Minister of Natural Resources. “We have decided that the original 500,000 tonne cap, laid-out in the 2010 Renewable Electricity Plan and subsequent regulations, can be more cautious on the basis of current analysis.”

When the plan was released in April 2010, the province made a commitment to defer to the Natural Resources Strategy process in setting the biomass cap.

“The Phase Two steering panel report in the Natural Resources Strategy process states that government should exercise caution in the use of biomass for power generation,” said Mr. Parker.
“We are paying attention to that advice while continuing to rely on forest biomass as part of a diversified approach to renewable energy.”

Provincial forest biomass will not be co-fired in Nova Scotia Power generating plants to help meet the province’s 2015 regulated target of 25% renewable electricity.

Co-firing is burning two fuels at a power plant and is the least efficient way to use biomass to generate electricity.

Other biomass projects will continue to be covered by the cap, including community-based biomass projects under the province’s new Community Feed-in-Tariff program.

Biomass is wood fibre that includes small-stemmed or knotted trees and other low-value wood that is not used to make lumber and can interfere with the growth of healthy hardwood stands.

Typically harvested as a byproduct of regular forestry practices, biomass is a renewable fuel source suitable for generating electricity in large power facilities and small community biomass projects. Forest biomass in Nova Scotia is used as a fuel in a number of applications, including firewood in more than 100,000 homes, a co-generation facility in Brooklyn, Queens Co., the agricultural college in Truro, two South Shore hospitals and several other institutions.

The only recently approved biomass project in the province is for New Page Port Hawkesbury Corp, in partnership with Nova Scotia Power. The project is expected to begin in 2012 under strict forest harvesting guidelines announced in November 2009. New policies to reduce clearcutting to 50% will also apply to NewPage.

Within the next few weeks, the province of Nova Scotia will release an economic impact analysis of recent policy changes on the forestry industry, particularly a clear-cutting reduction target. The provincial Natural Resources Strategy also will be released this spring.

Source: Government of Nova Scotia

Through an agreement with the Ontario Power Authority (OPA), AbitibiBowater will increase its electricity generation capacity by 40 megawatts, producing enough additional power for 38,000 homes.

The project is expected to be completed by January 2013.

The expansion is also supported by Ontario’s Forest Sector Prosperity Fund and will add capacity to AbitibiBowater’s existing biomass-fueled combined heat and power (CHP) project. These types of projects help industries become more energy efficient and reduce costs, while supplying clean electricity for Ontarians.

AbitibiBowater is also taking advantage of the Industrial Conservation Initiative which is available to over 200 of Ontario’s largest energy consumers. This program encourages industrial companies to shift their electricity consumption to off-peak hours, helping companies like AbitibiBowater stay competitive, invest more in their businesses and create new jobs.

Source: Government of Ontario

Howe Sound Pulp & Paper Corporation of Port Mellon, British Columbia and Metso of Charlotte, North Carolina are pleased to announce an agreement reached in June 2010 to retrofit the existing Babcock and Wilcox biomass power boiler.

Metso will convert the existing hydrograte stoker boiler to a Metso HYBEXTM Bubbling Fluidized Bed (BFB) boiler.

This retrofit, scheduled for installation in June 2011, will satisfy the mill’s primary objectives to increase the boiler’s steaming rate on biomass, improve the overall reliability and operability of the boiler, reduce maintenance costs, and increase the mills ability to produce power for the BC Hydro grid. The Metso and Howe Sound teams are working together to fulfill the strategic importance to the Howe Sound facility for the safe, efficient and successful completion of this boiler project. Funding for this project is part of the Green Transformation Program provided by the Canadian Government.

The conversion of the boiler is enabling Howe Sound to contribute to BC’s energy policy and will supply green power to the electric grid. The commercial operation for the new biomass-fired boiler is planned for 2011.

“As a result of this investment in our boiler, we will become one of the largest independent producers of wood fuelled renewable electricity in British Columbia,” said Mac Palmiere, President and Chief Executive Officer of Howe Sound Pulp & Paper.

The order emphasizes Metso’s strong capability as a full-scope supplier of bio-energy solutions, and accentuates Metso’s service expertise in conversion and modernization of existing power plants. Modification of the current boiler includes pressure parts, fuel and ash handling and installation. Complete automation of the boiler island includes the process automation system, emission monitoring and reporting, instrumentation and electrification retrofit.

Sources:
Howe Sound Pulp and Paper (http://www.hspp.ca)
Metso (http://www.metso.com)

The Nova Scotia government has announced 6 strategic directions for forestry in the province.

The strategic policy directions are:

• Reduce the proportion of wood harvested by clear cutting to no more than 50% of all forest harvests over a five-year period. Commercial harvests will be registered with the Department of Natural Resources and progress will be reported annually.
• Prohibit removing whole trees from the forest site to maintain woody debris, which is important for soil and biodiversity management and is consistent with the province’s Renewable Electricity Plan. Christmas tree harvesting will be exempt.
• Public funds will not go toward herbicide spraying for forestry.
• Private land owners will not need management plans to harvest their woodlots for non-commercial energy use.
• Analyze options for a provincewide annual allowable cut to limit total harvested amounts.
• Incorporate forest biomass harvest requirements in the Code of Forest Practice and, as stated in the Renewable Electricity Plan, revise regulations to ensure commercial users of biomass for energy or fuel production are registered buyers and subject to the same rules as the forest industry.

The Nova Scotia government is making these changes to better protect our forests, secure good jobs, and to ensure that Nova Scotia’s forest industry remains competitive.

“We are charting a new course that enables Nova Scotians to make a good living from our natural resources while ensuring future generations can enjoy similar benefits,” said Natural Resources Minister John MacDonell. “These strategic directions will bring positive changes to our forests and guide the forest industry to managing them sustainably.”

The Mi’kmaq and key stakeholders will be invited to provide input before the policies are finalized. Rules and guidelines to support these directions will become part of the next steps in the strategy process.

“Now that we’ve explained what we’re going to do, we will be meeting with the Mi’kmaq, small woodlot owner representatives, the large mills and non-government environmental organizations for input on how we’re going to achieve the strategic directions,” said Mr. MacDonell. “We also have an agreed to consultation process with the Mi’kmaq of Nova Scotia and we will be using that to consult with them.”

Rex Veinot, a small private woodlot owner in Maplewood, Lunenburg Co. and two-time winner of the Woodlot Owner of the Year award, welcomed the new strategic directions.

“Small woodlot owners who want to practice sustainable forest management will welcome these changes,” said Mr. Veinot. “Many small woodlot colleagues practice uneven-aged management, while recognizing that clear-cutting is necessary in some stands, but not at the rate that has occurred in the past.”

The Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources is in the final phase of writing the natural resources strategy. The forest policy framework and more information is available at gov.ns.ca/natr .

Nova Scotia Power and NewPage Port Hawkesbury are proceeding with the 60-megawatt biomass co-generation facility recently approved by the Nova Scotia Utility & Review Board. The sale of certain mill assets is expected to close in the near term. Project planning, engineering and procurement work have been ramped up in the past few weeks recognizing the need to have the plant in service in early 2013.

“This development in cooperation with our largest customer provides benefits for all ratepayers,” said Robin McAdam, Executive Vice President, Sustainability for NS Power. “It creates and protects jobs in Nova Scotia, redirects spending on fuel from foreign suppliers to Nova Scotians, and helps meet our renewable energy goals. I want to emphasize NS Power’s commitment to ensuring that sustainable forestry management practices are used in the fuel supply process.”

“The new biomass facility is important for NewPage, for the Port Hawkesbury Mill and for rural Nova Scotia”, said Bill Stewart, Director, Woodlands and Strategic Initiatives, NewPage Port Hawkesbury. “In addition to supporting the local economy, it helps our mill remain a model for sustainable operation.”

The $208 million biomass project is expected to create an estimated 150 new jobs in Northern Nova Scotia, primarily in the forestry sector, and approximately 50 person-years of employment will also be created during the construction phase. The co-generation facility will produce about 400 gigawatt hours of energy a year – or about 3% of Nova Scotia’s total electricity requirements.

NewPage is responsible for the construction and operation of the co-generation facility as well as the fuel supply. Biomass is one of Nova Scotia’s options for renewable energy, as outlined in the Renewable Electricity plan. Only ‘stem wood’ will be used to make electricity. Tree stumps, tops and branches will not be removed from the forest floor because they’re necessary to restore nutrients in the soil.

Source: NewPage