The Township of Chapleau is getting an early Christmas present with the announcement of a synthetic gas plant to be built in the northeastern Ontario town.
A consortium of private partners are collaborating to build a $56 million forest biomass plant on a former Weyerhaeuser mill property. The 10-megawatt power plant will use wood-fibre and railway ties as feedstock.
The biomass project brings together M & L Waste Management of Chapleau, Sunbay Energy Corporation of Toronto, Toromont-CAT, PRM Energy Systems of Arkansas, and Europlasma, SA from France.
The plant will feature a gas reformation proces uses modern plasma torch technologies. An array of gas-fired reciprocating engines will generate power which will be sold to the provincial grid.
The project is entering the formal permitting stage with site preparation in the spring.
"After several years dedicated to project planning, we now have a top-level project implementation team in place," said M & L president Larry Lacroix.
Toromont-CAT vice president of Power Systems Glenn Keenan said the Chapleau Biomass Project is an "exciting opportunity" for his company.
"Our company has a long history in Northern Ontario, with exactly the heavy equipment and power generation systems that will be used here."