News
Final sixteen PPGTP projects total $109 million in funding

The final projects funded by the $1-billion Pulp and Paper Green Transformation Program (PPGTP) were announced mid-November, with Nanaimo Forest Products, Paper Excellence, AV Cell, Meadow Lake Mechanical Pulp and Resolute Forest Products named…

The final projects funded by the $1-billion Pulp and Paper Green Transformation Program (PPGTP) were announced mid-November, with Nanaimo Forest Products, Paper Excellence, AV Cell, Meadow Lake Mechanical Pulp and Resolute Forest Products named as recipients. The sixteen PPGTP-funded projects completed at 11 pulp and paper mills represent a total investment of $109.2 million by the Government of Canada.

Among the projects announced, $12 million in funding went to AV Cell Inc. in Atholville, N.B., for capital upgrades to treat two mill effluent streams using an anaerobic process. This form of effluent treatment will allow the mill to produce more renewable energy through the combustion of biogas, thereby offsetting consumption of fossil fuels and reducing emissions.

In B.C., $21.3 million in funding is helping Nanaimo Forest Products (Nanaimo, B.C.) and Paper Excellence (formerly Tembec, Skookumchuck, B.C.)

Meadow Lake Mechanical Pulp mill in Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan received $2.6 million funding to improve the energy efficiency of the mill through the installation of two low-consistency refiners that reduce its consumption of electricity while maintaining the same pulp quality.

In Quebec, Resolute Forest Products’ Saint-Félicien mill (formerly Fibrek), received an investment of $10 million to support two projects which are helping improve the mill’s energy efficiency while increasing its generation of renewable electricity. As well, an investment of $800,000 went to the Kruger Wayagamack mill in Trois-Rivières to improve the mill’s energy efficiency through optimized heat exchange.

The Pulp and Paper Green Transformation Program stopped taking submissions in March 2012. It was intended to improve mills’ overall environmental performance through capital upgrades aimed at improved energy efficiency, increased renewable electricity production and diversified product lines.

In addition to the direct environmental benefits of PPGTP projects, the program has helped generate new investments that are making Canadian pulp and paper facilities more sustainable and more competitive. In total, the program has provided funding for 98 projects in 38 communities.

In some cases, PPGTP funding allowed mills to expand their revenue streams by selling surplus energy to the grid. The renewable electricity generated by PPGTP-funded projects is expected to create $149 million annually in revenues for Canadian pulp and paper mills.

Collectively, these projects are expected to directly reduce greenhouse gas emissions of the Canadian pulp and paper sector by more than 10%, and communities are benefiting from improved air emissions and reduced noise from mills.