Quebec firm to convert RockTenn mill into biofuel plant
by Canadian Manufacturing Daily Staff
Will invest estimated $20-million to convert shuttered mill in Matane, Que.
QUEBEC—Renewable energy firm Innoventé Inc. plans to convert a containerboard mill in southeastern Quebec into a biofuel plant after signing a 25-year power supply deal with the province’s utility provider.
According to Innoventé, it will invest an estimated $20-million to convert the shuttered RockTenn mill in Matane, Que., some 400 kilometres northeast of Quebec City along the southern shore of the St. Lawrence River, into a biofuel plant that will feed into Quebec’s grid.
The news of the new plant came as Innoventé announced the signing of a 25-year power supply contract with Hydro-Quebec for the production of 7.2 megawatts of electricity.
The deal is the company’s third with the provincially-owned utility.
“This third contract with Hydro-Quebec confirms the leadership of Innoventé in the power production from organic waste,” Innoventé president Richard Painchaud said in a statement.
According to Innoventé, conversion of the facility—expected to begin in the coming months—will employ as many as 100 people.
Operation of the facility will create another 40 jobs.
Using biodryers, Innoventé’s patented technology can transform forest, industrial, agricultural and municipal residues into biofuel, which is then used to supply a cogeneration facility made of existing biomass boilers in the plant that were built in 2009.
RockTenn ceased production at the mill in late January 2012, citing realignment plans.
The facility was permanently closed a month later.
Power delivery will start in the fall of 2015.
