Aurora Wood Pellets owner looks to build NWT industrial site

Brad Mapes has been working on getting his pellet plant, Aurora Wood Pellets, in the Northwest Territories off the ground for years. But what started as plans for a wood pellet plant has now turned into plans for an industrial park called the AWP Industrial Park.

According to Cabin Radio, Mapes is planning a sawmill, a biomass power plant which will power the entire 320-hectare site, an agricultural zone, an industrial park, and a gravel company, alongside the pellet plant and a rail yard.

“Ultimately, if you combine everything we’re looking at in the next five years, you’re going to see at least 250 full-time jobs here,” Mapes told Cabin Radio.

Currently, Mapes is focused on growing the rail business, and will then shift his efforts to the biomass power generation plant in 2021. The pellet plant is expected to come online in 2022.

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