News Bioeconomy Pulp
Fortress secures federal support for bioproducts demo plant

April 9, 2019 – Fortress Xylitol Inc., a subsidiary of Fortress Global Enterprises Inc., has signed an agreement with Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) to receive $10.4 million in funding for a new xylitol and complementary bioproducts demonstration plant at Fortress’s dissolving pulp mill in Thurso, Quebec.

The contribution was originally approved by the SDTC board of directors on July 11, 2018.

This funding from SDTC is in addition to the previously announced $10 million grant from Natural Resources Canada and the anticipated provincial investment and loan of up to $7 million previously announced by Fortress on July 11, 2018 that remains subject to completion of definitive documentation.

The demonstration plant project is intended to demonstrate technology for the co-production of value-added and sustainable bioproducts that will help transform the mill into a biorefinery. The process is expected to validate performance and produce pre-commercial quantities of food-grade xylitol and complementary bioproducts for testing and use by customers.

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“We are very grateful for the strong federal government support for the demonstration plant project, which we believe has the potential to transform our forest industry by creating new and valuable bioproducts from existing wood resources,” says Giovanni Iadeluca, president and CEO of Fortress. “The technology that will be demonstrated is a key component of our vision to create a biorefinery that will produce sustainable and cost-effective xylitol along with other bioproducts.”

Fortress operates its dissolving pulp business at the Fortress Specialty Cellulose Inc. mill located in Thurso, Quebec, which also operates in the renewable energy generation sector through its cogeneration facility. Fortress operates its bioproducts business through Fortress Advanced Bioproducts Inc., for which has laboratory and pilot plant facilities in Vancouver, British Columbia.