When he met the mayor, he learned about the agrothermal park, a big and ambitious project he liked right away. He then met local investors, Bertrand and Caroline Fradette, who owned a lumber mill back in the 1970s, who also had interest. In 2015, the co-generation plant was for sale and they prepared to make an offer, but Enel Renewable Energy sold their 21-megawatt power plant to Greenleaf Power. To find a reliable source of thermal energy they decided to look away from the co-generation plant. Who was the other industrial partner with heat available nearby? The answer: Resolute Forest Products, with its pulp mill 15 kilometres away from the down-town area. When Dubé asked for a meeting with Richard Garneau, Resolute’s CEO, in February 2014, he was offered just 10 minutes for his pitch. “We ended up spending an hour together. This was the beginning of a suc-cessful relationship,” Dubé recalled at the greenhouse’s opening ceremony. Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard was accompanied by a four minister delegation, provincial and federal MP’s, Resolute Forest Products board members and Toundra Greenhouse promoters for a visit of the 8.5 hectares complex. Stunned by the proposal to make a business partnership to grow cucum-bers, Garneau readily asked, ”Is there a market?” because he needed this kind THE BLUE OX EATS TREES FOR BREAKFAST. 2009 ELECTRIC TUB GRINDER • No emissions, less noise and maintenance, and unparalleled grinding power • 400 hp soft start main drive motor and 75 hp motor to power the hydraulic system • PT Tech Torque limiter protects the motor and hammermill from overloads, jams and costly repairs View products in action on our YouTube channel! • Available as a stationary unit or as a towable pintle hitch • Heavy duty hammermill, tilting tub for easy access and maintenance • Governor controlled tub speed and hydraulic folding stacking conveyor Call today or visit us online to learn more. 888-402-4638 w w w.duratech.info 14 Canadian BIOMASS CFI_Duratech_MarApr17_CSA.indd 1 of information to convince the Resolute board to jump in. And Dubé provided it quickly. By July, he came back with a promise from grocery retailer Sobey’s to buy all their cucumber needs after meeting with Yvan Ouellet, the company’s procurement and merchandizing vice-president. From then on, Resolute agreed to be a 40 per cent partner in the project and to allocate a field close to the pulp mill, but Garneau stated his conditions. Local partners had to come up with a good business plan and use an efficient and recognized technology. The munic-ipality also needed to be a partner and the workforce should be found locally. “We believed in this bold and crazy project. And today, cucumbers produced here can be found in 450 points of sale in the province,” Dubé said. Sobey’s commitment helped find the funds, but the hardships were not over. For example, the agricultural zoning had to be changed. Local acceptability was challenged when the mayor proposed to invest mil-lions of dollars in the water-diverting infrastructure. Construction workers also protested when Dutch workers came to build the greenhouses. But in the end, the project was completed according to the planned schedule and budget. This is in part MARCH/APRIL 2017 2017-03-02 1:05 PM
Canadian Biomass March-April 2017: Page 14
