Fortress Paper Ltd.

A soon-to-be re-opened pulp mill in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan has begun generating power through its on-site cogeneration facility. The power will be used to run the mill once it’s up and running, and is already contributing to the SaskPower provincial grid. “According to Prince Albert mayor Jim Scarrow, the plant is producing power from the mill's bio-mass boiler and power turbine and the company is now selling back that power,” CT...

Nova Scotia’s provincial government announced yesterday it would contribute $124.5 million to re-open an idle paper mill in Port Hawkebury. The NewPage mill closed nearly a year ago in September 2011. The multi-million dollar deal they have offered would help Pacific West Commercial Corp. – the owners of the mill – re-start and reinvigorate the facility and the workforce in the region. “We have indeed done everything we can to keep ...

A power plant in Aitkokan, Ontario will undergo a conversion over the next two years that will change the facility’s focus from coal to biomass. The conversion project for the Atikokan Generating Station, located about 200km northwest of Thunder Bay, will begin later this year and is scheduled to be fully operational by 2014. Upon completion, it will provide more than 200 megawatts of energy to the provincial power grid. The plant will us...

In a draft of the state’s 10-year energy action plan, Oregon governor John Kitzhaber and his government have instituted a strong focus on biomass energy. Given the geography and biodiversity of the state, the report says “Oregon has a unique ability to lead in developing the next generation of biomass and cogeneration facilities, as forests cover nearly half of Oregon’s 63 million acres.” Nearly 60 per cent of those 63 million acres...

Pulp and paper producer Tembec Inc. announced this week they would invest $190 million to upgrade their specialty cellulose plant in Temiscaming, Quebec. The upgrade will replace three old boilers with a new high-pressure boiler that is designed to burn the waste byproduct of the cellulose manufacturing plant. The change will not only increase the mill’s overall capacity by 5,000 metric tonnes but will also create a new co-generation faci...

Industry leaders in the US are calling on the federal government to invest more time and money on the biomass industry. Proposed cuts to a farming bill – the Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP) – are a signal to some that this particular alternative energy sector isn’t receiving the intention it deserves. “Cuts in BCAP could put additional pressure on the bio-energy groups using the biomass to set feedstock prices [per ton] at a ...

Despite the closure of the NewPage Mill in Port Hawkesbury, NS, Nova Scotia Power (NSP) says it will move forward with plans to build a $200 million 60 megawatt biomass cogeneration plant on site. The plan to build the facility was negotiated prior to the pulp mill’s closure in September 2011. “The initial plan called for Nova Scotia Power to fund the project, which would be built and operated by NewPage,” wrote the Chronicle Herald t...

The US Department of Energy has awarded Ameresco Inc. a sum of $795 million to finance, design, construct, operate and maintain a biomass cogeneration facility in South Carolina. This project marks the largest single-source energy performance savings contract (EPSC) that has ever been allocated by the US federal government. The energy generated from the plant will provide 30 per cent of the electricity needs of the 300-square mile Departmen...

Hydro-Québec announced a plan to purchase 150 megawatts of power generated by forest biomass cogeneration plants throughout the province. The power will come from several different plants and each plant is to generate no more than 50MW, according to The Montreal Gazette. “The price for the power, in 2012 dollars, will be 10.6 cents per kilowatt hour, the average price for power awarded in 2009 to successful bidders on a biomass power pro...

Montreal-based pulp and paper company Tembec Inc. announced this week they will be launching a $190-million cogeneration project at their Témiscamingue site in northwestern Quebec. According to an article published by the Montreal Gazette, “the cogeneration program will replace three old boilers with one modern high-pressure unit burning liquors produced in Tembec’s existing chemicals plants [and] will reduce overall energy costs and boos...