Partners in Production Pinnacle partners with Tolko on Lavington pellet project By Andrew Macklin An opportunity lost can often become an opportunity gained, especially when the right minds collaborate on a solution. With the closure of Domtar’s sawmill digester in Kamloops in 2013, a large surplus of sawmill fibre was created in the Okanagan region of the B.C. interior. No longer was there an economically and environmentally viable use for the massive tonnage of residuals being created. A new solution for the fibre was desperately needed. Enter Pinnacle Renewable Energy Inc., Canada’s largest wood pellet producer. Pinnacle recog-nized the situation that had been created, and clearly, the production of wood pellets using all of the available fibre was an attractive option that met both the economic and environmental needs for the residues. While exploring the opportunity for pellet production using the fibre resources, Pinnacle rec-ognized a natural partner they could work with in the region. Tolko Industries is firmly estab-lished in the Okanagan region, with several sawmills. In discussions with Tolko, it was discovered that the optimal logistics equation was created by positioning the project adjacent to Tolko’s Lavington sawmill, located just 15km east of Vernon. The additional acreage would be enough to house a full pellet plant based on the size of operation that the collective wisdom determined to be the best fit for the region, and had the prerequisite rail access to the port of Van-couver through CN. In January 2015, following months of deliberation with community groups and permitting approval from the Ministry of Environment and District of Coldstream, Pinnacle and Tolko officially announced that they were proceeding with the con-struction of the plant. The partnership involves a 75-25 split between Pinnacle and Tolko respectively. “Tolko is the largest fibre supplier to the project, therefore it only made sense for them to participate in the economics asso-ciated with the project,” says Scott Bax, senior vice-president of operations for Pinnacle. “They are a highly professional, well-LEFT MAIN: Pinnacle conveys residues directly from the adjacent Tolko sawmill for use in pellet production. INSET: The pelletizing equipment installed at the Lavington plant is enough to produce 700 tonnes of pellets per day when running at capacity. Canadian BIOMASS 11
Canadian Biomass January February 2016: Page 11
