The power of planning ahead

It is sad to see the “Hog Fuel” generator torn down and being hauled away as scrap metal. The multi-million-dollar investment by both the Province of Ontario and Resolute Forest Products was built to reduce paper manufacturing costs and extend the life of the “Kraft Mill” and paper mills in Fort Frances. It was built as a green energy project using the renewable resource of wood fibre that was being left in the woods to produce both electricity and steam.

The price of natural gas had exploded making the co-gen natural gas energy obsolete and its replacement the hog fuel generation a money saver. Natural gas prices plummeted, and the new facility ran mostly on natural gas.

Today we are witnessing energy being used as a weapon of war, across the globe. The war in Ukraine has caused gasoline prices to skyrocket as much of the western world is being denied oil. In Europe heating and electrical bills have risen tremendously as Russia cuts off natural gas to Germany and other western European nations. Even in North America where LNG is being gobbled up, we are witnessing new costs in heating our homes.

With the move to greener energy, North America is already seeing shortages of electrical energy. In the US, President Biden has earmarked billions to build charging stations across the nation. In California and other southern states, climate change has stretched utility companies to their limits to cool homes and businesses. More electrical power generation will be required not only in the US, but in Canada as well.

Our electrical bills already encourage us to use electricity sparingly during the day and encourage us to use power at night. Those power rates were introduced to reduce energy spikes by encouraging more usage during evenings and weekends, when there is surplus generation capacity.

As we move from all forms of fossil fuel use to electrical power for heating, cooling, manufacturing, and operating our vehicles, we will have to create more electrical energy, as a province and a nation.

In Ontario, a debate is growing between more wind, solar and natural gas electrical generation and nuclear energy. The issue with wind and solar energy is that they are dependent on Mother Nature. At night and when winds die, both solar and wind electricity production disappears. Nuclear plants provide the greatest amounts of power in Ontario. They are the natural choice for governments.

Storage facilities capturing surplus electrical energy are needed. The proposal made by SB Energy Holdings, Bioveld Energy Ventures and BMI group should be examined. One must understand where the surplus power will come from, whether an agreement with IESO can be reached to both buy power and resell power.

Decisions must be made by all three levels of government.

Former Publisher
Fort Frances Times