News Pulp
$500,000 mill winterization nears completion at Prince Albert Pulp

Paper Excellence announced that its project to winterize the Prince Albert Pulp mill is near completion. The interior of the mill is now heated for the first time since the site was last operated in 2014. The cost of the project is around $500,000.

“Winterizing and heating the interior of the mill is another step forward as we keep working on restarting PAPI,” said Carlo Dal Monte, vice-president of energy and business development for Paper Excellence. “As we all know, Prince Albert winters can be very cold, so being able to heat the interior of the mill means a safer working environment for our team and contractors that may be on-site with us. Winterizing the mill also helps to prevent weather-related damage to the exterior of the mill and important infrastructure inside.”

Ministers from the government of Saskatchewan toured the site on May 5 to take a look at the upgrades. In 2021, the Saskatchewan government allocated 1,034,000 m³ of softwood timber to support the restart of the Prince Albert mill.

“We’re excited to see that work is underway,” Energy and Resources Minister Bronwyn Eyre said. “This project will support Saskatchewan’s world class, sustainable forestry sector and create economic opportunities in the north, including over 1,650 new jobs”.

The winterization project is being done entirely by Saskatchewan contractors, including several companies from Prince Albert.

Paper Excellence is constantly working with the Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment on the environmental assessment process for the overall project to restart the mill. The company expects that process to be completed in the coming months. The restart project remains subject to market conditions and permit approvals.