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Subsidizing sustainable power

A $22 million cash infusion for Lake Utopia Paper Mill in New Brunswick will go a long way towards helping the facility boost its production of clean energy. The funding comes as part of the Federal Green Transformation Program and will allow the mill to install a new biomass boiler that will be fuelled by wood waste from the company’s own forestry operations in the province.

The boiler is expected to churn out enough steam to meet the facility’s energy needs, thus reducing its reliance on fossil fuels for power. The installation will also scale back the mill’s greenhouse gas emissions by more than 66,000 tonnes per year and will displace the equivalent of 180,000 barrels of fossil fuel.

The $22 million investment represents a substantial chunk of the $32.9 million total the project will cost. The outstanding project costs will be covered by a $10.8 million repayable loan from the Government of New Brunswick, in addition to a half a million dollar grant from Efficiency NB.