ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT Both power plants have set gaseous emissions guarantees. The particulate matter is to be less than 20 mg/m 3 , NOx emissions less than 512 mg/m 3 and carbon dioxide emissions less than 160 mg/m 3 . Particulate matter at the boiler stacks is reduced through the installation of a high-efficiency electrostatic precipitator. The bottom and fly ashes that will be left over from the process are stored and sold for use in other applications, such as the making of concrete (fly ash) or for spreading on local farmlands (bottom ash). The near field noise for the main operating levels of the plant (areas of the plant with permanent or usual presence of workers during operation) are to be no more than 85 dB(A); with the far field noise produced exclusively by the plant at site boundary to be no greater than 65 dB(A). The installation of air-cooling condensers (ACCs)at both facilities allow for the facilities to keep their water requirements to a minimum. Each facility is expected to have a water consumption level less than 90 litres per minute. OVERCOMING CHALLENGES Montserrat Varas Roncero, project man-ager for Iberdrola’s Fort St. James and Merritt Biomasses Generation Division, says one of the toughest issues when starting work in a new country is learn-ing all the ins and outs, including the lo-CanBiom0315-Kahl-1 20.01.16 11:03 Seite gistical challenges of the project sites, as 1 well as the various provincial, municipal and federal regulations and governmental processes. Educating the local workforces on Iberdrola’s processes was another barrier to overcome. “At the beginning, no one in Canada knew Iberdrola,” says Molano. “Now in British Columbia, in this industry, most of the construction companies know Iberdrola, how we work, and they are learning a lot about us.” Working with the safety associations and government organizations created similar challenges for Iberdrola. “At the very beginning it was hard to work with them – we spent a lot of time explaining to them who Iberdrola is, how we work, the kinds of contractors we use to develop these kinds of plants – but now we feel very comfortable with them,” Molano says. “The relationship is really good. They are working with us as a team very closely and this is giving us an opportunity to solve all the problems and issues in a very efficient manner.” Despite all the hurdles and barriers Iberdrola has had to overcome, the two biomass-fuelled power plants should be commissioned on schedule in Fort St. James and Merritt, providing a founda-tion for the province to continue to grow the towns’ local economies and provide much-needed employment for both areas of the B.C. Interior. • KAHL Wood Pelleting Plants Quality worldwide. AMANDUS KAHL GmbH & Co. KG · SARJ Equipment Corp. · Mr. Rick B. MacArthur 29 Golfview Blvd. · Bradford, Ontario L3Z 2A6 Phone: 905-778-0073 · [email protected] www.akahl.de 18 Canadian BIOMASS CBM_MarApr16_Amandus Kahl_CSA.indd 1 MARCH/APRIL 2016 2016-03-04 7:26 AM
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