What better place to find new energy streams than the Mattagami River.
Tembec engineers are working to re-power a string of hydroelectric dams on the tributary.
Paul Dottori, Tembec’s corporate director of engineering, says his biggest area of focus is finding and securing a low-cost source of energy for the Temiscaming, Que. pulp and paper company.
The forestry product giant is considered an industry leader in the engineering community for developing creative practices and processes.
“Innovation in pulp and paper means potentially becoming an energy builder to drive down your manufacturing costs,” says Dottori, who was one of the featured speakers at the 35th annual symposium of the North Bay chapter of the Professional Engineers of Ontario held Jan. 28.
He says Tembec’s culture of innovation of “making something happen where nothing exists” is ingrained in their Northern roots.
Their biggest project under development is a plan to modernize four hydroelectric generating stations owned by Ontario Power Generation (OPG) on northeastern Ontario’s Mattagami River.
Together with SNC Lavalin Engineering Consultants and the Moose Cree First Nation, the private partnership has proposed to buy or lease the plants from the province and make major upgrades to ensure a stable source of power supply for the company.
Each party would assume an equity stake in the hydro project.
“Tembec as an industry player has an appetite for power to sustain regional employment,” says Dottori. Lavalin is a world-class engineer/constructor who has worked on similar projects before, he says, and the Moose Cree have historical territorial claims in the area.
The partners’ proposal to OPG includes completely redeveloping the Smoky Falls station and installing new turbines in three others. The upgrades would double the combined stations’ existing production output to almost 800 megawatts.
“That goes a long way to closing the supply gap we’re looking at in Ontario for next five years,” says Dottori.
He would not disclose the capital cost except to say it involves a “substantial investment” from Tembec and their partners.
Negotiations with the Ontario government are still ongoing and Dottori expects a decision to be made within the next few months.
Dottori says with Queen’s Park and OPG being too cash-strapped to make major infrastructure upgrades, outside partners “who would take the risk of the construction portion...would bring it in on time and on budget.”
The company is also studying the feasibility of wind power. They have erected two meteorological towers to gather wind speed data at their Marathon mill in northwestern Ontario.
“We want to be ready for the next round of (provincial) RFPs to submit a project for Marathon.”
On the environmental side, Tembec is building a $25-million effluent treatment plant at their Temiscaming mill. Using anaerobic technology, which works in the absence of oxygen, the project will generate methane gas for the plant’s processes, replacing natural gas.
“There have been some famous failures using this technology in the pulp and paper industry, but it has come a long way in the last few years,” says Dottori.
Construction is underway with completion scheduled for summer 2006.
Dottori says Tembec’s culture of innovation begins with an all-inclusive approach in their engineering processes.
That means consulting with mill operators, millwrights and welders in cultivating ideas from different perspectives to drive innovation in products.
“The approach is to have a questioning attitude and to involve the people who are your best experts. In some ways, it’s mirroring Japanese business philosophy that was famous a few years ago for having quality circles with everyone involved - including the janitor.”
