Joining Forces For Beetle Wood Energy

By 250 News

Fifteen to 20 communities in the  B.C. Interior  may  become part of a network of small  energy producing plants fueled by  beetle  wood.

Nexterra Energy Corp of Vancouver, and Calgary's Pristine Power Inc, have joined forces on this project  born  from B.C. Hydro's call for independent power producers.

Nexterra has the technology to make "syngas" from beetle wood, while Pristine has the  money to  build and finance the projects.  In a joint release, the companies say the $500 million dollar  network of  power plants could create up to  200 megawatts of clean, renewable energy.

"  The Network will consist of over 15 individual projects, each 10 to 20 MW's in size that will be widely distributed across BC. These projects could be located in any forest-dependent community with access to sufficient quantities of wood residue." reads the news release.

The  release goes on to say:

Nexterra's technology converts waste wood from mills, abandoned logging slash and beetle-killed wood into "syngas" which is then used to generate electricity. Its inherent efficiencies and modular design make this system economic in small and medium sized applications. Utilizing Nexterra gasifiers, Pristine aims to build small, community-based generation facilities at mills and in communities throughout BC's central and southern Interior.

"We believe the BC Bioenergy Power Network is the best option for converting BC's vast wood residue resources into clean, reliable and renewable power," said Harvie Campbell, Executive Vice President of Pristine Power Inc. "Our proposal to BC Hydro will further advance BC as a North American leader in clean energy while creating hundreds of good-paying jobs, new opportunities and a better future for communities and First Nations as they work to recover from the devastating effects of the mountain pine beetle."

"The Bioenergy Power Network is about setting a new standard for creating green power from biomass," said Jonathan Rhone, CEO of Nexterra Energy. "This alliance between Pristine Power and Nexterra Energy is a powerful combination of technology, power industry experience and financial resources that will help BC achieve its Energy Plan objectives and BC forest communities to create sustained value from its wood residue resources."

B.C. Hydro has not yet made any decisions on  any of the 80 proposals it received  in the most recent call, it has  been in meetings with each and  every proponent to  further detail the outlined projects.

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