Domtar adds second biomass-fuelled generator

Domtar officially inaugurated a new 18-megawatt (MW) turbine generator at its Windsor plant on Thursday morning. The new addition, installed at a cost of $36 million, increases the company’s electricity production capacity to nearly 50 MW, some of which is used by the plant itself, with the surplus being sold to Hydro-québec.

“Eighteen MW is the equivalent of 5,000 homes,” said Windsor Plant Manager Éric Ashby. “We’re very proud.”

The new generator is the plant’s second, with a 32-MW generating unit having been installed in 2001. With both turbines now in operation, the Windsor plant has become one of the largest renewable energy producers in the Eastern Townships by using forest biomass as a fuel.

“Part of our mission over the years has been to decrease our environmental footprint,” Ashby said, explaining that the turbines use by-product steam from the plant’s regular operations that is now available because of initiatives to reduce steam consumption. “We’re using that extra capacity to pass through the steam turbine and produce green energy.”

The manager explained that although the plant uses approximately 80 MW of power, the 50 MW produced by the turbines will be distributed through a contract with Hydro Quebec.

“At the end of the day it’s a you-buy, you-sell situation depending on the load out there,” he reflected.

Ashby was also proud to note that the new turbine was finished on time and under budget and that the leadership of the company saw it as a positive project with possible implications for other sites.

The installation of the turbine will allow Domtar to strengthen its competitive position on the world market and consolidate jobs at its Windsor plant. The economic impact for the region is estimated at $22.5 million.

The project is part of a Hydro-québec program to purchase electricity from small cogeneration plants using residual forest biomass.