the Enligna operation despite the company’s focus on operating in Western Canada. “Our CEO, Christopher Robertson, who is based in B.C., was adamant that we continue our western expansion where the fibre sources are well known, well established and plentiful,” said Michele Rebiere, chief financial officer for Viridis Energy. “However, after a tour of the plant (Enligna) and a month or more of due diligence, Christopher was very eager to bid on the plant. We were delighted to find ourselves the successful bidder a couple of months later.” With the purchase of the plant in Middle Musquodoboit, Viridis found itself with new opportunities to expand its brand. The man-agement started by naming the pellet operation the Scotia Atlantic Biomass Company to provide the plant with a distinct new identity. And while the move to purchase an existing plant in Eastern Can-ada wasn’t originally on the company’s radar, there are new opportu-nities for expanding Viridis’s stake in the Canadian pellet market that were also of great appeal when considering the purchase. “The real motivation was the size of the plant and its proximity to Europe,” said Rebiere. “Scotia Atlantic Biomass Company is capable of producing 120,000 tons per year, which makes it one of the largest plants in Eastern Canada. Equally important is that our production will ship from the Port of Halifax, which is one of the best equipped ports for storage and loading facilities in the east.” GettInG equIPMent In PlACe Five 400-horsepower Andritz pellet mills remain in place, and will require minimal maintenance before being fired up after being idle for almost two years. The former Enligna facility looks relatively the same as it did back in August of 2011. While the exterior shows the typical wear of being two years older than the last time it was operational, much looks the same. Much of the equipment still sits in the same place where it was when the doors were closed. The 70-million-BTU GTS Energy biomass furnace and high-pressure boiler remains in place to dry the pellet material. The fibre fed for pellet production will pass through the Jeffrey 66WB green hog to reduce the fibre size before being conveyed into the MEC triple-pass dryer. The Oliver destoner removes the knots and rocks, Canadian BIOMASS 17
Canadian Biomass May/June 2013: Page 17
