Wood chip heating being introduced

Bible Hill centre is one of six public buildings switching to biomass boilers

TRURO, N.S. – The province has confirmed the Perennia Park Atlantic Centre for Agri-innovation in Bible Hill as one of six public buildings for conversion to wood-chip heating.

“This initiative will help develop new, long-term markets for lower grade wood by replacing imported oil with locally sourced wood chips,” said Lands and Forestry Minister Iain Rankin. “Creating a new market for lower grade wood will improve the economics of sustainable forest management, leading to healthier forests and a stable market for woodlot owners.”

A tender was issued to five prequalified vendors for the design, installation and operation of wood chip heaters in the six buildings. The province says the wood-heating systems should be operational by November 2020, in time for next winter.

The five other buildings ear-marked for conversion to woodchip heating are Hants East Rural High in Milford, Memorial High in Sydney Mines, Riverview High in Sydney, the Bridgewater Provincial Court and the Centre of Geographic Sciences in Lawrencetown.

The province says conversion of the six sites is the first step of a longer-term effort to grow a new market for modern wood heating and eventually district heat. A provincial task team including 11 provincial departments and other public-sector agencies selected the initial six sites.

Ray Plourde, of the Ecology Action Centre, said the conversion to wood chips is acceptable, provided the chips come from normal sawmill operations and are not produced specifically for the purpose of burning.

“Generally, we are not in favour of burning our forests and chips are the least valuable products Nova Scotia has ever made from its forests,” Plourde said. “Given the reality that the sawmills desperately need a place for their chips now with Northern Pulp down, this is a better use than biomass for electricity and it also helps the sawmill sector.”

Each wood heating system will be built in an exterior building capable of being expanded in future if need be.

While Perennia Park will soon use wood chips for heating, it is not the first building in Colchester County to use some form of biomass technology.

Dal AC opened its Biomass Energy Plant in November 2018, which uses sawmill residue. The plant forms part of Dal AC’S goal to be carbonneutral within a decade.