Staff
Not quite up and running solely on biomass fuel just yet, the new biomass boiler at the AbitibiBowater mill here is now up to burning a mix of up to 75-80 percent biomass, with the balance of fuel being natural gas, mill manager John Harrison reported this week.
“We continue to push at getting systems commissioned and optimization,” he noted. “We keep pushing at doing boiler tuning and correcting deficiencies in systems as we start it up.
“We’re making progress, we’re burning more and more biomass all the time and generating more megs of electricity all the time,” added Harrison.
“Things are progressing for us.”
Harrison also noted more biomass is being hauled on site every day.
Rainy Lake Logistics, a partnership between Northern Bulk (part of the Gardewine Group) and the Rainy Lake Tribal Development Corp., is the primary supplier of transportation services to bring biomass fuel to the boiler.
But the biomass supply now is being supplemented by the Dennis brothers of Mine Centre, who are grinding slash and hauling it to the site, and Wayne George Grading Ltd. of Fort Frances, who are removing and grinding trees at the airport property and bringing them to the site.
In related news, AbitibiBowater is carrying on with its previously-announced plan to have scheduled shutdowns at the mill here due to poor market conditions for its products.
Paper machines #5 and #7 were idled Sunday for a two-week period ending April 4.
The kraft mill also has ceased operations from March 22-April 4.
Harrison also confirmed Monday that paper machine #6, which was idled at the beginning of March and expected to be back online April 4, now will not be started up until Sunday, May 3.
Harrison noted the extension is due to a lack of orders.
This is the second shutdown in the past three months, with the local mill also having stopped operations over the Christmas holidays (Dec. 24-Jan. 2).
