Ontario power plant to burn biomass

November 15, 2013, Thunder Bay, Ont. – The Ontario
government has announced its plans to convert the Thunder Bay Generating
Station (TBGS) from coal to fuel.

TBGS, which is operated by Ontario Power Generation (OPG),
will be the first advanced biomass station in the world that was formerly a
coal plant and will have a five-year contract to generate electricity. The
modifications to the plant will begin in 2014, and it is expected to be
operational in 2015.

The plant calls for the use of advanced biomass (biocoal) at TBGS, in order to produce energy for the grid. However, there has been no
announcement regarding the source of the biocoal for use at the energy
generating facility.

Last year, a plan to convert TBGS to natural gas was
scrapped without a secondary plan in place to eliminate coal at the generating
station. There is still the possibility that the plant could ultimately be
converted to natural gas energy production.