NewPage Port Hawkesbury Biomass Co-Gen Project Proceeding

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Nova Scotia Power (NSP), Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and NewPage Port Hawkesbury, Nova Scotia, are proceeding with the 60-MW biomass co-generation facility recently approved by the Nova Scotia Utility & Review Board. The sale of certain mill assets is expected to close in the near term. Project planning, engineering, and procurement work have been ramped up in the past few weeks, recognizing the need to have the plant in service by early 2013.

"This development in cooperation with our largest customer provides benefits for all ratepayers," said Robin McAdam, EVP, Sustainability for NS Power. "It creates and protects jobs in Nova Scotia, redirects spending on fuel from foreign suppliers to Nova Scotians, and helps meet our renewable energy goals. I want to emphasize NS Power's commitment to ensuring that sustainable forestry management practices are used in the fuel supply process."

 Bill Stewart, director, Woodlands and Strategic Initiatives, NewPage Port Hawkesbury, noted that "the new biomass facility is important for NewPage, for the Port Hawkesbury Mill, and for rural Nova Scotia. In addition to supporting the local economy, it helps our mill remain a model for sustainable operation."

The $208 million biomass project is expected to create an estimated 150 new jobs in Northern Nova Scotia, primarily in the forestry sector, and approximately 50 person-years of employment will also be created during the construction phase. The co-generation facility will produce about 400 GW hours of energy a year, or about 3% of Nova Scotia's total electricity requirements.

NewPage is responsible for construction and operation of the co-generation facility as well as the fuel supply. Biomass is one of Nova Scotia's options for renewable energy, as outlined in the Renewable Electricity plan. Only "stem wood" will be used to make electricity. Tree stumps, tops, and branches will not be removed from the forest floor because they're necessary to restore nutrients in the soil, NSP notes.

The Port Hawkesbury Mill has been in operation since 1962. It has a current production capacity of 190,000 metric tpy (210,000 tpy) of newsprint (standard and high brightness) on PM 1 used to produce retail inserts, supplements, and special newspapers and 360,000 metric tpy (396,000 tpy) of supercalendered (SC-A++, SC-A+, and SC-A) paper on PM 2 used to produce magazines, catalogs, advertising materials, and flyers. A thermomechanical pulp line, commissioned in 2004, provides high-quality furnish for the paper mill.