Apr. 20, 2010, Montreal – Boralex Inc.’s Senneterre, Quebec, power station project
will benefit from significant investments by the federal and provincial
governments. It has been awarded $3 million in repayable funding from Canada
Economic Development for equipment that will allow the firm to make use of
biomass at the Senneterre plant. The project involves the reclamation and use
of old bark piles from former dumpsites for the production of thermal energy.
The
new investment will partially ease the power station's problems with wood
residue supply until the forest industry in the region truly recovers. "It
means that we will be able to keep operating the power station in a situation
where supplies of fresh bark are extremely limited and the cost of obtaining
wood residues is rising," says Patrick Lemaire, president and chief
executive officer of Boralex.
The
$6 million project was developed in collaboration with a manufacturer in the
Abitibi area. It will result in the maintenance of 24 existing permanent
positions at the Senneterre plant, as well as the creation of an additional 140
subcontracting jobs, 100 of them during the equipment installation phase and
the other 40 for the eventual transportation of the biomass.
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