The turbine component of the co-generation project at Fortress Paper’s Specialty Cellulose mill in Thurso, Que., has operated successfully, but the failure of a high-pressure water pump has delayed the completion of the project. The…
The turbine component of the co-generation project at Fortress Paper’s Specialty Cellulose mill in Thurso, Que., has operated successfully, but the failure of a high-pressure water pump has delayed the completion of the project. The co-gen plant was expected to be operational by the end of the second quarter of 2013.
Fortress Paper announced July 2 that the water pump and a backup pump had failed. The pump will be either repaired or replaced.
Prior to this setback, the turbine component of the cogeneration project was successfully synchronized to the power grid on more than one occasion and has operated up to 4 megawatts without incident, Fortress reports. The turbine will continue to undergo a series of additional tests by the manufacturer.
According to Fortress, the supplier of the water pump expects the equipment to be operational in mid-July. If so, Fortress expects its cogeneration facility will be producing power before the end of July.
However, in order to mitigate the risk of further delays, the company has ordered another pump from another supplier which should be delivered in approximately 10 weeks and will require an additional one week to install.
Chadwick Wasilenkoff, chairman and CEO of Fortress Paper, commented: “While this further delay in the start up of the cogeneration facility is frustrating, we remain confident that in the near term this pump will be repaired or replaced. Once the cogeneration facility is operational, we will see production costs at the mill improve towards our originally targeted cost structure.”
The Thurso facility produces dissolving pulp.
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