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Atikokan finally clears the air

The provincial government and Ontario Power Generation announced Sept. 10 that the former coal-burning Atikokan Generating Station is now producing electricity using wood pellet fuel.
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The provincial government and Ontario Power Generation announced Sept. 10 that the former coal-burning Atikokan Generating Station is now producing electricity using wood pellet fuel. The province spent $170 million to refurbish the plant, located west of Thunder Bay, which burned its last bit of coal in September, 2012.

The provincial government and Ontario Power Generation announced Sept. 10 that the former coal-burning Atikokan Generating Station is now producing electricity using wood pellet fuel. The province spent $170 million to refurbish the plant, located west of Thunder Bay, which burned its last bit of coal in September, 2012.

Plant tours were given to delegates attending the CanBio conference in Thunder Bay.

The construction involved building two massive silos to store pellets along with major boiler modifications. More than 200 contractors were employed on the two-year project.

Resolute Forest Products and California-based Rentech were awarded the contracts to each supply the power plant with 45,000 tonnes of pellets annually.

The plant was originally slated for closure a decade ago by the then-McGuinty government as part of its off-coal green agenda. Furious regional lobbying saved the facility which now employs 70.

Energy minister Bob Chiarelli called the plant’s reopening a “new era” that puts Ontario “on the world map as a leader” in using a sustainable fuel era for power production.