Our DNA: • High performance process equipment for wood pellet plants • Heavy duty material handling and storage equipment • Custom designed security & dust collecting systems Logs will go from the logyard to the plant via a Tanguay stationary loader. Photo courtesy Tanguay. throughout the plant, along with some other equipment from smaller suppliers, to monitor dust levels and reduce the risk of explosions. “On safety, we’ve spent more than $1 million,” Crits adds. The hazard study alone took more than five months. “We consider safety our main concern,” he explains. MAKING A COMEBACK Once the pellets have gone through the plant, they will go to two silos for storage. These silos only hold 2,000-3,000 tonnes of pellets. But this is by design. The company has contracted a fleet of trucks that will be running six days a week, 24 hours a day, from local transport companies to transport the pellets to the Port of Quebec. The pellets will be stored at the port and loaded into the ship by Arrimage Quebec (QSL), and then shipped to Europe, Crits explains. “We try to optimize the use of local contractors,” he says. This is because of the large amount of experience and knowledge of forestry operations in the village, thanks to its history operating a sawmill and OSB plant. With the addition of La Granaudière, Saint-Michel-des-Saints’ forestry industry is making a comeback. In 2017, the local sawmill re-opened. In conjunction with the new pellet plant, “we are going to recover the same level of production as it was 15 years ago,” Crits says. “We are going to come back to approximately 700,000-800,000 tonnes of raw material treated by the sawmill and by us. “At the beginning of this process, it was a business deal, but year after year, it’s almost a community project because the main purpose was to bring back some economic activity to revive the village,” he continues. A few years ago, Saint-Michel-des-Saints was considering closing down its school. But La Granaudière will create 180 new jobs and bring much-needed economic activity. “In a village of 2,500 people, it’s quite a lot,” Crits says. But, looking ahead, Crits is concerned about the long-term impact of COVID-19. “The problem is, with the economic incentive given by the government today and people’s fear of COVID-19, are we going to find people to operate the plant? I don’t know,” he says. “Three months ago, we were looking at the Canadian market, Quebec market, and even for people from outside Canada. But now immigration is going to be reduced, so we really don’t know what will happen. “The challenges are going to continue,” he adds. “We hope that there will be no second wave that stops construction again. It seems that the government of Quebec and the prime minister have mentioned that if there is a second wave, most likely the construction industry will not stop again. The economic impact is too large.” Only time will tell what the impact of COVID-19 will be. But in the meantime, progress on Quebec’s newest pellet plant continues. • Proud Canadian OEM: • Satisfied customers from across North America, from sea to sea for over 100 years. • Modern manufacturing plant equipped with state-of-the-art machinery. We will support your project needs: • Feasibility studies • Project management • Engineering • Custom designs • Installation, start-up, after-sale services and parts lmmequip.com Canadian BIOMASS 13 2020-07-07 8:41 AM CB_Law-Marot-Milpro_Summer20_CSA.indd 2
Canadian Biomass Summer 2020: Page 13
