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Green Transformation Program allocates $278 million to projects

January 6, 2011 was a day of federal largesse in pulp mill towns across the country. The Canadian government announced $278 million in project funding under the Pulp and Paper Green Transformation Program (PPGTP). Recipients were Alberta…

January 6, 2011 was a day of federal largesse in pulp mill towns across the country. The Canadian government announced $278 million in project funding under the Pulp and Paper Green Transformation Program (PPGTP). Recipients were Alberta Pacific Forest Industries, Canfor Pulp, Cariboo Pulp, Domtar, Irving Paper, and Twin Rivers Paper.

The largest allocation was to Canfor Pulp, which received $100.2 million to upgrade the recovery boiler, evaporator, and emissions reduction equipment at the Northwood Pulp mill in Prince George, B.C. The upgrade will allow for greater production of renewable electricity and increased energy efficiency, as well as reducing odor.

Efficiency improvement projects at Cariboo Pulp & Paper in Quesnel, B.C., will receive $41.5 million. The mill will upgrade its power boiler and hog fuel handling system, install a steam turbine and cooling tower, and undertake steam reduction projects. As a result, the mil will increase its electricity generating capacity by 18.1 megawatts and will be able to export surplus electrical energy to the grid.

Also in B.C., Domtar’s Kamloops mill will receive $17.3 million for three projects that build on infrastructure upgrades announced earlier this year, which were also funded by the PPGTP. By upgrading equipment and reusing steam and hot water wherever possible, the mill will gain an additional 79,000 megawatts of renewable electricity per year.

Alberta Pacific Forest Industries will invest its $62.9 million to make use of steam that is currently vented and export renewable energy to the Alberta electricity grid.

On the East Coast, the Edmunston, N.B., mill of Twin Rivers Paper Company will spend its $21-million allocation on a variety of projects that will generate additional thermal energy and boost energy efficiency.

Irving Paper will receive $10.4 million for two of its mills in Saint John, N.B. The company will invest $9.1 million of the funding in a heat recover project at its facility in Saint John. The remaining $1.3 million will be used for a steam reduction project at the Irving pulp and paper mill at Reversing Falls. As a result of the projects, the mills will save nearly 580,000 gigajoules of energy a year and will reduce their emission of greenhouse gases.

The Pulp and Paper Green Transformation Program is a $1-billion funding initiative launched by the federal government in 2009. Kraft pulp mills received credits toward funding of environmental and energy efficiency projects based on the amount of black liquor they produced.