Canadian Biomass • July August 2015 • In Progress

Atlantic Biodiesel officially opened its state-of-the-art renewable fuel facility located in the Niagara Greenbelt in Welland, Ontario.

“This is an important day for Atlantic Biodiesel and for the greater Welland community,” said Michael Paszti, Chief Operating Officer of Atlantic Biodiesel. “Our world class facility is up and running. We are excited to be a part of this community and to support the local economy. We are making a commitment today; where we are able to, we’re going to source locally.”

The new Atlantic Biodiesel facility is one of the largest biodiesel facilities in North America and produces 170 million litres (45 million gallons) per year of renewable, clean-burning biodiesel and 15 million litres (4 million gallons) per year of high-grade glycerin. The facility is strategically located within close proximity of rail infrastructure, providing for storage and shipping ability to a range of North American markets.

“The City of Welland is thrilled to welcome Atlantic Biodiesel to the community,” stated Welland mayor Frank Campion. “The facility will bring approximately 25 direct jobs and significant indirect business to the area. Every job is valued and needed in our community. I strongly encourage the federal, provincial, and local governments to join me in supporting this local company as they work to bring jobs and economic prosperity to Welland.”

“Tomorrow the real work begins,” said Paszti. “We are committed to the long-term sustainability and success of our facility and we are proud to be part of Welland’s economic renewal.”

Tembec relates some of the challenges of bringing the company’s new turbine online in its quarterly report for the period ending in March 2015. Total construction cost for the cogen project at the company’s Temiscaming pulp and paper complex in Quebec had reached $272 million by the end of March 2015, versus the expected construction cost of $273 million. The cogen project is now producing green electricity for the provincial grid.

Commissioning of the turbine began in early January 2015, at which time the company generated its first electricity sales. In late January, Tembec successfully met the commercial-in-service test set forth in the power purchase agreement and began selling electricity at the higher green power rate.

During February, Tembec began the firing of pulp mill residual liquor in the new boiler, which forms part of the cogen system. The quarterly report states: “A significant amount of effort and resources were dedicated to ramping up the volume of liquor burned and optimizing the exhaust gas scrubber system and related equipment. The commissioning work occurred during a period of very cold temperatures and necessitated the purchase of a significant volume of natural gas, which offset the energy cost benefit of firing the liquor in the month of February.”

During the month of March, boiler, scrubber and turbine operating efficiency continued to improve, Tembec reports. At that time, the cogen system was approaching targeted levels of performance and provided a net energy cost benefit of $2 million in the month.Based on boiler and turbine operations to date, the company expects to attain the $28 million of projected annual energy benefits.

The company had also set a target of $7 million per year in operating and maintenance cost reductions due to the new boiler and cogen system, but notes that during the March 2015 quarter, the Temiscaming site continued to periodically operate the old boilers and was required to maintain them on operational readiness when not in operation.

Newpro is looking to convert its particleboard facility in Smithers, B.C. into a wood pellet manufacturing plant.

The company recently presented its proposal to Smithers Town Council. Smithers Mayor Taylor Bachrach said he was excited about the potential employment the plant could bring, but he is also concerned about local air quality. Newpro’s particleboard production facility stopped operating in January 2014.

“In 2013, the economics of foreign exchange on the particleboard world was such that it didn’t make economic sense to continue to operate the plant,” Newport’s Aaron Sinclair told local radio station CJFW.

Newpro stated that the new wood pellet plant would bring considerable improvement in air quality compared to the particleboard plant. A full consultation report will be submitted to the Ministry of Environment by August 3.

NEWPRO, or Northern Engineered Wood Products Inc., is a privately owned company that operates two particleboard mills in western Canada. The mill in Smithers, BC mill produced an average of 46 million square feet (3/4” basis) of particleboard per year from 1980 to January 2014.NEWPRO’s Wanham mill produced its first particleboard in February 2001, and is currently producing approximately 75 million square feet (3/4”) per year

For more news on new biomass, bioenergy and bioproduct projects in Canada, visit: canadianbiomassmagazine.ca