Tag Archives: biomass

Nova Scotia amended its renewable electricity regulations today.

The regulations require biomass be used at Port Hawkesbury Paper to provide renewable electricity starting this year, establish more flexibility for Nova Scotia Power to plan for various renewable targets and make it clear that power accessed through the Maritime Link must be used, if the project is approved by the Utility and Review Board.

“We all have an interest in pursuing a sustainable fuel supply through cleaner energy sources while protecting and creating good jobs,” said Energy Minister Charlie Minister Parker. “It is no longer an option to rely on old ways to generate electricity without the support of renewable sources.”

Amendments also include technical changes to improve how the regulations address renewable electricity. They were developed through an extensive consultation process in 2011.

“Adding diversity and more local supply reduces our reliance on costly imported coal, while cleaning up our environment,” added Parker. “Biomass and hydroelectricity from Lower Churchill are a part of our overall strategy that includes wind, and a balanced fossil fuel mix that includes cleaner-burning natural gas.”

Feedback from public consultation was considered for the final renewable regulations.

Read the regulations: http://www.gov.ns.ca/just/regulations/rxaa-l.htm#electricity .

Innoventé Inc. is delaying the operating start of its first biomass-driven power-generating plant located in St-Patrice-de-Beaurivage, Quebec until April 30th, rather than December.

“We are sparing no efforts to make sure that the plant will be operational as soon as possible, but at the same time we are committed to high standards and strict environmental regulation”, explains Richard Painchaud, president of Innoventé.

Jacques Gauthier, a director of the company with an extensive experience in the energy sector, has agreed to provide support to the project team to optimize the process leading to commercial operation of the plant.

Innoventé has informed its client, Hydro-Quebec, of this delay. The terms of the contract will apply and represent a penalty of approximately $115,000.

To address the financial impacts caused by this delay and working capital needs related to the development of new projects, Innoventé has entered into a letter of engagement with National Bank Financial Inc. with respect to a “best efforts”, agency basis, private placement consisting of common shares of Innoventé for aggregate gross proceeds of $1 million to $2.5 million.

As per the engagement letter, National Bank Financial will act as agent in the context of the offering. The issue price of the common shares has not yet been determined and will be mutually agreed upon by the company and the agent. The common shares will be offered in each of the provinces in Canada. The common shares issued pursuant to the offering will be subject to the statutory hold periods and the offering remains subject to applicable regulatory approvals.

The company will submit a request for an advance income tax ruling from the Ministère du Revenu du Québec confirming that Innoventé meets the criteria of a “qualified issuing corporation” in accordance with the Quebec Stock Savings Plan II and that the common shares of Innoventé that will be issued in the context of the offering will be “qualifying shares” as per such plan.

Management Changes

Innoventé’s Chief Financial Officer, Isabelle Jomphe, has informed the company of her departure. Her last day with the company will be January 31st, 2013. The necessary measures have been put in place to find her replacement.

About Innoventé

Based in Quebec City, Innoventé produces renewable energy and provides communities with a green and sustainable solution for the management of residual organic matter.

Ledwidge Lumber Co. Ltd. of Enfield, Nova Scotia is working on plans to start generating power.

They would like to establish a 4 megawatt generator that would burn biomass. The company would sell the power to Nova Scotia Power to reduce their operation’s power bill.

Currently, Ledwidge Lumber primarily produces lumber, and also sells pulp chips to Northern Pulp, and sawdust to Shaw Resources who uses the sawdust to manufacture wood pellets for residential pellet stoves.  Ledgwidge also sells bark to the Brooklyn Power Corp. facility that Resolute Forest Products owns where the bark is used to fuel a 24 megawatt facility.

Ledwidge already burns it owns shavings to two boilers to heat their dry kilns and plant.

Much of Ledgwidge Lumber’s plan to construct their own biomass power generator is hanging on the province’s planned purchase of Resolute Forest Products Inc.’s massive woodland because Ledwidge Lumber would need a guaranteed fuel supply to gain regulatory approval.

Read more from The Chronicle Herald: Ledwidge seeks loan for power plant

Learn more about Ledwidge Lumber: http://ledwidgelumber.com

Progress is being made on Harmac Pacific‘s new electrical-generation plant.

The foundations are nearly complete.  In November workers are expected to begin building the housing for the turbine.

The project has a $45 million price tag.  Harmac Pacific’s president Levi Sampson expects the 25 megawatt plant to be selling electricity to B.C. Hydro by next summer.

Earlier this year, Nanaimo Forest Products (owner of the Harmac mill) reached a 15 year deal with B.C. Hydro to produce 25 megawatts of power at the mill. That is enough electricity to light up 17,000 homes.

Wood biomass will be used to generate steam that will power the generator.

The company is covering all the costs of the project, and is using $27 million in federal funding they received under the federal Pulp and Paper Green Transformation Program – funding that is intended for projects that improve energy efficiency and environmental performance.

The Harmac Pacific pulp mill produces high quality kraft pulps made from custom blends of Douglas fir, western hemlock, balsam fir, interior SPF and western red cedar. The pulp is sold in Asia, Europe, North America, and Latin America . With its strategic location on a deep water port, the mill is well situated for cost effective export of pulp and receipt of raw materials such as wood fiber.

“Selling energy to B.C. Hydro is another revenue stream for Harmac that will help us better deal with the cyclical and volatile nature of the pulp industry,” Sampson said. “It will put is in a better position in the future.”

More information:
Foundations nearly complete for new plant at Harmac (Nanaimo Daily News)
Harmac Pacific‘s website
Harmac pulp mill to build electrical generation plant (ForestTalk.com)

Biomass Magazine is a monthly publication tailored to serve companies and organizations engaged in producing or utilizing biomass power and heat, advanced biofuels, biogas, wood pellets and biobased chemicals.

In addition to policy, regulation, project finance, technology and plant management, Biomass Magazine maintains a core editorial focus on biomass logistics: generating, cultivating, collecting, transporting, processing, marketing, procuring and utilizing sustainable biomass.

Are you in the biomass sector?  Grab your free subscription

The Wall Street Journal published an article this week about biomass power generation facilities in the United States and how a large majority of them have violated state and federal pollution regulations.

85 of the 107 biomass plants in the U.S. have been cited for air or water pollution violations at some time during the past 5 years.

Biomass power generation is up about 14% over the last 10 years.  Biomass represents about 11% of the country’s alternative electricity-production.

Why the growth of biomass power generation?

Biomass burning, by its very nature, can be branded as renewable, carbon-neutral, green power.

Biomass is considered carbon-neutral, because the carbon would eventually get into the atmosphere anyway when the wood or plant material decays, so releasing it as it burns is considered inconsequential.

Nearly all U.S. biomass plants receive government support from subsidies, grants or state-approved power contracts. The federal economic-stimulus act of 2009 provided more than $11 billion for renewable power, of which about $270 million went to biomass plants, in grants administered by the U.S. Treasury Department.

Read the article:
Wood-Fired Plants Generate Violations (The Wall Street Journal)

Conversion of the Atikokan Generating Station in Atikokan, Ontario to biomass rather than coal burning is to begin later this year.

The conversion will create 200 construction jobs and should be complete in 2014.

The biomass fuel will be in the form of wood pellets.  Another 200+ jobs are expected to be supported or created to provide the pellets for the generating station.

Under the terms of the agreement to convert the station, the biomass must be sourced from Ontario’s forests and processed in Ontario. The procurement will provide a new market for waste fibre and act as a catalyst for a larger biomass industry in Ontario. Wood pellets will be made primarily from unused and underutilized species, non-marketable wood, forest residue and sawmill residue.

The converted plant will be able to deliver more than 200 megawatts of clean, renewable power, and will take the province a step closer to eliminating coal-fired electricity generation by the end of 2014.

The Atikokan Generating Station is the largest industrial employer in Atikokan and provides significant municipal revenues.

Source: Government of Ontario

The province of Ontario is helping the Whitesand First Nation explore the idea of replacing their diesel power generation facility with a new combined heat and power plant that runs off biomass.

In particular, the community is studying the feasibility of the idea, as well as environmental issues land use, waste management and water use issues.

The project is also linked to a proposal by the First Nation to establish a biomass pellet plant within the community, which would help create jobs and boost the local economy.

Ontario is supporting this project through the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation’s Northern Energy Program, which helps eligible northern businesses pursue clean, renewable energy options that reduce their demands on external energy sources.

The Whitesand First Nation, located on the north shore of Lake Nipigon, has an on-reserve population of about 300 residents.

Source: Government of Ontario

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