Interfor looking to invest $100 million
By Mona Mattei
Feasibility planning is underway for a sawmill overhaul and the installment of a co-generation plant, an investment of $100 million, at International Forest Products Ltd. (Interfor) in Grand Forks. The announcement was made last week to their employees and has been confirmed through Ric Slaco, vice-president and chief forester for Interfor. The planning process, which will include community consultations, is just in the initial phase, but Slaco sees the opportunities for both the community and their company as the way of the future.
“We are investigating the possibility of building a plant which would be done in a complimentary fashion to building a co-gen facility on the same site. Interfor is definitely looking at the possibility of building a new sawmill in Grand Forks. If constructed the new mill would replace the existing mill. At the same time we’re also investigating the possibility of building a co-gen plant on the same site that would utilize the sawmill residuals as the primary source of fuel,” said Slaco.
Slaco anticipates that the co-gen plant could produce between 15 and 20 megawatts of clean power which would be for sale on the grid and the additional heat and power needed to run their dry kilns would be serviced from that plant as well. This would displace their existing use of fossil fuels to power their kilns and heating.
Part of the work of the investigation stage will be to look at particular plant designs and technologies, and to hold consultations with the community. Slaco said that they are currently working with environmental consultants to do a feasibility analysis and design in order to be able to submit a bid in October to B.C. Hydro’s tender process for power.
“We’re not declaring that we are building it, but we certainly want to let people know we’re thinking of doing it because we are investigating it and doing our due diligence,” said Slaco. “That due diligence will include a business case for both the plant and the co-gen facility and the complimentary aspect of doing both.”
Mayor Brian Taylor commented that there had been discussions between Interfor and the city about the co-gen plant and the opportunities to supply city power. With the interest in this large investment in the local mill, Taylor said that increased high paying jobs and a solid commitment from Interfor bode well for the city.
“We met with Interfor and they outlined their plans for expansion of the plant,” said Taylor. “It was also made clear that keeping the railway alive was not a deal breaker but will cost them financially. It’s too early to speculate but with having that extra power available for our peak periods we can in effect reduce our contract with FortisBC to reflect our ability to top up peak periods. We’re going to save the people in Grand Forks considerable money.”
Cogeneration (also combined heat and power, CHP) is the use of a heat engine or a power station to simultaneously generate both electricity and useful heat. It is one of the most common forms of energy recycling. Conventional power plants emit the heat created as a by-product of electricity generation into the natural environment through cooling towers, flue gas, or by other means. By contrast CHP captures the by-product heat for domestic or industrial heating purposes, usually very close to the plant. Power generated would provide the needs of the sawmill, and the heat could potentially be used in the kilns.
“If you think back two years ago to where we are now there’s been a dramatic change. We purchased a business that was out of bankruptcy, not sure if it really was a business and then with the hard work of everybody in that community putting together a business plan and then proving it out, it certainly has made a huge turnaround in the future opportunities – and that’s what we’re talking about right now,” said Slaco.
The mill is older, he continued, so the possibility for investments is more attractive and he is pleased that there is an opportunity to work jointly with the community. It will be some time before any decisions are made, Slaco assured, and it may well be into the new year.
Although they are far from pushing the “go” button for this large project, Slaco is optimistic about the process.
“The idea of having a co-gen facility actually strengthens the mill piece itself because the two businesses can be complimentary,” Slaco said.
“People are gravitating to bio-fuels and with the modern technology nowadays, you look around the province and people are moving in this direction. It’s a source of clean power; it displaces a fossil fuel in terms of burning natural gas. There’s carbon benefits associated with that. It provides a complimentary component to the existing mill and the potential to use waste materials coming from the logging sites and the mill residuals; I think it’s the way of the future for many facilities.”
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