BIOMASS update FPInnovatIons, Kruger to buIld cellulosIc FIlament Plant FPInnovations and Kruger Inc. have announced a joint project to implement the world’s first five-ton/day cellu-lose filament demonstration plant at Kruger’s Trois-Rivières paper mill. Highly innovative wood-fibre based biomaterials, cellulose filaments (CF), are expected to have an immediate impact on Canada’s forest industry due to their capacity to be integrated into other materials and to their high strength, light weight and flexibility. CF will be used in a wide range of applications as a lightweight-strengthening additive to produce lower-cost commercial pulps, papers, packaging, tissues and towels. Looking to the future, CF may be combined with many materials to create high-value products ranging from flexible packaging and films to structural and non-structural panels in building construction. The demonstration plant in Trois-Rivières, combined with a concurrent national research program involving FPInno-vations and industry, provides a strategic advantage for the production and marketing of this transformative biomaterial. The plant will operate on a simple and efficient chemical-free process developed by FPInnovations that uses only mechan-ical/refining energy and wood fibres with minimal impact. This, in addition to the fact that the plant can be built with robust and industrially available equipment, will facilitate scale-up to a commercial stage, thus conveying a unique advantage to Canadian companies. nexterra sIgns contract wIth mwh For u.K. Power Project Nexterra Systems Corp. has signed a contract with MWH to sup-ply a biomass gasification system for the Birmingham Bio Power Ltd. (BBPL) renewable energy power plant in Tyseley, U.K. This is Nexterra’s first project in the U.K. after successfully delivering seven commercial plants in Canada and the United States. Export Development Canada (EDC), Canada’s export credit agency, has provided support for this first U.K. project. The Nexterra gasification system is a cornerstone of the £47.8-million project that will use 67,000 tonnes/year of locally sourced class A to C recovered wood diverted from landfills to produce steam that will be converted into electric-ity through a steam turbine and generator system. The plant will supply enough electricity to power 17,000 homes and is expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (CO2e) by 107,000 tonnes/annum. Nexterra will design and supply the complete biomass gas-ification-to-steam generation system from feedstock handling to emission controls, including four gasifiers, a high pressure boiler, and a flue gas treatment system. The Nexterra system qualifies as an Advanced Conversion Technology (ACT) under U.K. legisla-tion, meaning that the power generated by the project will receive the highest band of Renewables Obligation Certificates (ROCs). vIrIdIs merchants secures FIrst transactIon Viridis Merchants Inc. has structured its first transaction, just one month after the announcement was made regarding the forma-tion of the new division of Viridis Energy Inc. Viridis Merchants has secured approximately 30,000 tons of wood pellets from a southeast U.S. producer, representing approximately 30 per cent of the manufacturer’s capacity, to be delivered over the next 12 months to customers in Europe. Viridis Merchants is serving as a principal in the trade, providing additional services to the producer. The first shipment has left port and is headed to the residential market in Europe. This transaction will generate approximately $8 million in annual revenue for Viridis, which will be realized after each recurring monthly shipment, and will be immediately additive to earnings. agreement In Place For terrace Pellet Plant Pinnacle Renewable Energy Inc. and Coast Tsimshian Re-sources (CTR) have reached an agreement for the develop-ment of a pellet plant in Terrace, B.C. The agreement will see both parties work towards con-struction of a fibre procurement plant and a joint pellet plant. The location of the plant has yet to be determined. The Lax Kw’alaams Band, which also owns the largest tree farm licence in the region, owns CTR. Elementa Group Inc. has reached an agreement through the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) for the construction of a 10MW waste-to-energy demonstration facility in Sault Ste. Marie. The company will use 12,500 tonnes of municipal waste annually for the production of energy. The energy will be sold to the provincial power grid as part of a elementa to build demonstration facility in ssM 20-year contract between Elementa and the OPA. The energy produced is expected to be enough for about 10,000 homes. The facility will use a non-incinerating gasification pro-cess for the production of energy from the waste materials. Elementa also expects to produce some biofuels at the Sault Ste. Marie site. January/February 2014 8 Canadian BIOMASS
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