Canadian sawmilling history and a brand new power generation company were born this week in the Central Interior.
Wednesday was the birth of Nechako Green Energy (NGE) and the launch of a first-of-its-kind power plant - both based at Nechako Lumber in Vanderhoof.
The longtime forest company already encompasses L&M Sawmill, Premium Pellet, and now NGE which will focus on a state-of-the-art system that has never been attempted at a Canadian sawmill. The heat literally going up the mill's smokestack will now be channeled through a machine that will turn it into electrical energy - a lot of it.
"We will generate enough electricity to power approximately one-third of our entire operation," said Alan Fitzpatrick, general manager of Nechako Lumber. "It is not going through the provincial power grid, but reduces the amount of power we take from the grid and significantly reduces our electrical bill."
According to provincial government officials, the only other power plant of its kind in Canada is attached to a natural gas facility in Saskatchewan. However, in power-strapped Europe several of these heat conversion plants are in operation with a solid track record.
The NGE machine is built by Italian company Turboden and imported to Canada by Pratt & Whitney. The plant purchased by NGE is a Turboden CHP-22 (Combined Heat Power). It is based on an Organic Rankine Cycle design, which is the technical term for a closed-loop pipe system containing organic fluid that boils at a much lower temperature than water allowing for easier conversion, via a turbine, into electricity.
"If you could work out the economies of scale, you could do this in your own home, in theory, but right now the best application is in the industrial setting," said John Rustad, MLA for Nechako Lakes which includes Nechako Lumber operations and several other mills who are watching carefully. "It has the potential to have a significant impact on the entire forest industry. Economic downturns create challenges for mills to stay open. The more different revenue streams you could get from the fibre you're already bringing into your mill, the more it helps you weather an economic downturn."
Fitzpatrick said that once the technology is cheap enough, as it now is, "It becomes a smart business decision. Companies won't let incidental heat just float away if it could improve the profitability of the company, aid the provincial economy and environment without breaking the bank."
He said they are studying their whole operation to find other usable heat sources. That is, in part, what NGE will do for their family of companies.
Rustad said he knows other mills in the area are highly curious about this project, and encouraged any company heating large buildings to consider where the excess furnace heat might be available for electrical conversion.
"It is cheaper [for the province to purchase] than wind, cheaper than run-of-river, and it all comes from heat already being generated for other purposes. When you have opportunities like this to generate low-cost power, possibly at every mill across the province or anywhere where significant amount of heat is generated, it makes it very exciting."
The construction involved in the Turboden CHP-22 installation has begun and NGE should be ready to flick the switch in one year, said Fitzpatrick.
