M. McKinnon
Thursday, the Minister of Energy issued a directive to the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) to negotiate a deal to purchase biomass electricity from the Atikokan Thermal Generating Station.
What does that mean?
“This station will stay open, and will be converted to biomass,” said MPP Bill Mauro, who announced the provincial move to over 100 gathered here at the Legion Hall.
“This is what our board needed to hear to move ahead with the conversion [from coal to wood pellets],” said Jane Todd, program manager for OPG Northwest.
“This is splendid news for Atikokan,” said Mayor Dennis Brown.
MPP Mauro said that once the OPA and Ontario Power Generation have worked out the power purchase agreement, the conversion of the ATGS from coal to biomass (wood pellets) would take up to two years, and involve 200 construction jobs. In addition, the conversion will spur the growth of the wood pellet industry in Northwestern Ontario.
“This has lifted a cloud of uncertainty,” Ed Enge, manager of the ATGS, said on Friday. “Everybody here is walking around with a smile on their face today.”
Al Arnott, who is director of the ATGS biomass conversion project, said the announcement means OPG can now started turning a concept into specifics, by nailing down costs, performance and capacity factors, and other issues related to the conversion.
The conversion itself will be a significant undertaking, and apt to draw a good deal of world attention, said Enge. “This is one of the first facilities of this size to be converted to biomass,” he said. “There will be a lot of interest, even internationally.”
The conversion will involve a virtually complete rebuild of the plant’s fuel handling and storage facilities, including the construction of two large pellet storage buildings, as well as some burner changes. If all goes smoothly, the plant could be switched over to wood pellets as early as the end of 2013, a full year ahead of the provincial coal deadline.
It will be a year or more before construction starts, however.
“OPG will continue to develop the business case to convert the station,” said OPG vice-president (thermal generation development) Chris Young. “We have to be able to get fuel at the right price, plant modifications at the right price, and be able to prove to our OPG board, the Ontario Power Authority and the provincial government that we have a solid business case. With these approvals and once a power purchase agreement is in place we will proceed with plant conversion and enter into contracts for fuels and transportation.”
Six year effort
Mayor Brown was effusive in his praise for MPP Mauro, and the provincial government, saying the announcement “shows they really care about Atikokan and Northwestern Ontario.”
Seven years ago, the province committed to end coal-fired generation in Ontario, and finally set December 31, 2014, as Ontario’s no coal deadline. Since then, Mayor Brown and Council, backed by an ad-hoc energy committee, the AEDC, the community, and MPP Mauro, have been pressing the case for keeping the station open.
“This is an issue that has been hanging over our collective heads for the past seven years,” said the MPP. “We’ve made seven years of effort to keep this generating station open. Things never happen as fast as you want in government. This announcement means job security [for the workers at the plant] and economic security for the community.”
MPP Mauro was especially glad to be able to make the announcement at the Legion Hall. It was there in 2004 that he first met with the community-at-large to discuss the province’s plans to shut down all coal-fired generation. At the time, the province was struggling to find some way to mitigate the impact on Atikokan if the ATGS were to close.
“Six years ago, the atmosphere in this room was a little different,” he said with a wry smile. He even mentioned Don MacKay, one of the more passionate community advocates at that meeting, and noted he was sitting in very nearly the same place on Thursday.
At that time, converting the ATGS to biomass wasn’t really being considered. But in 2006, the province invested $4 million in the Atikokan Bio-Energy Research Station, which spurred an intensive investigation into the potential for converting the plant to wood pellets. The results were mostly positive, despite an in-plant explosion during pellet testing in December, 2008.
By late last year, it was clear a conversion was doable, and all indications were the provincial government was willing to back it. But it wasn’t official that it would until Minister of Energy Brad Duguid issued the directive to the OPA on Thursday.
“This is the beginning of an exciting new future for the Atikokan plant, and the community,” he said. “With its conversion to biomass, we’re helping to build a made-in-Ontario industry, adding a new source of clean energy, and supporting local jobs.”
MPP Mauro was generous in his praise of the many who contributed to making Thursday’s announcement a reality, including Mayor Brown and both Town Councils that have served since 2004. “A lot of work had to be done to ensure we were on the right path,” said the. He also thanked local Liberal mainstay Henry Cunningham, in addition to several Cabinet members, past and present, George Smitherman, Brad Duguid and Dwight Duncan.
Six years ago, this outcome to the dilemma Atikokan faced wasn’t really even on the radar. Now, it is virtually assured. “This has never occurred before; this is extremely significant,” said MPP Mauro.
And although it never did find a magic bullet that could replace the economic role the ATGS plays in the community, the province did a lot more in the interim than invest in the biomass research station and investigate conversion. It made major commitments to the Atikokan Mining Initiative (the geophysical surveys crucial to prospectors), backed a wide range of local projects (notably the infrastructure needed to move the Atikokan Bass Classic to the Floodwaters, and the major upgrade at Charleson Recreation Area), provided a special economic development fund for the Town, and backed its infrastructure improvement efforts downtown and at the municipal airport.
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