As Howe Sound Pulp and Paper (HSPP) celebrates its 100th anniversary this week, confirmation of more than $45 million from the federal government is adding to the celebrations.
Al Strang, manager of environment and external relations, confirmed that HSPP will receive $45,493,164 under the Pulp and Paper Green Trans-formation program.
The program was announced by the federal government in June. Twenty-four companies, representing 38 pulp and paper mills across Canada, have qualified for credits under the program.
"It's good news for us. It allows us to invest in some of the things we have been looking at," said Strang.
He said the biggest priority is the rebuilding of their power boiler, allowing HSPP to generate more renewable electricity.
Another project is increasing the capacity of the black liquor evaporators in the kraft mill.
"This helps us to increase steam production in the recovery boiler, which in turn creates more renewable energy," Strang said.
The third priority is replacing the large motors in the TMP Mill used in newsprint production, Strang said.
"We can replace two of these motors with bigger motors that will allow us to run two lines instead of three, creating significant energy savings," he said. "This funding and all of these planned upgrades make our operation more viable and more stable. I think one of the pluses of the Canadian program as compared to the U.S. program is that this one requires us to invest in projects that make us more competitive, so that helps position us better for the future. A lot of the money in the U.S. is just going into the shareholders' pockets. At the end of the day, we will be better positioned than they [U.S. markets] will be.
"In my opinion, the federal government got this one right."
The Pulp and Paper Green Transformation program is helping mills in Canada to further reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and helps position them as leaders in the production of renewable energy from forest biomass. These companies are receiving funding for eligible capital projects based on an allocation of $0.16 per litre of black liquor produced until the funding is fully allotted.
To determine their eligibility for black liquor credits, companies were asked to register with the program and report on their black liquor production by Sept. 18. At the close of this registration period, the government verified production reports prepared by companies and calculated the number of credits to be allocated to eligible companies.
Black liquor goes into a recovery boiler, where combustion results in chemicals that are recovered and reused in the pulping process.
"This is something that many of us have been working on for a long time and it's an investment in green capital transformation," said West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country member of Parliament John Weston.
"It will be a welcome infusion to the company, to employees. The union has been out a lot to meet with me and I've met with them there as well as in their union hall on the Coast. I've met with management and certainly leaders in the community who universally look to Howe Sound Pulp and Paper as a major source of employment. This is really welcome news for our community."
