Province Moves to Increase Green Energy, Jobs

The province is furthering its commitment to creating and securing jobs, increasing renewable energy, and contributing to a green economy.

NewPage Port Hawkesbury Corp. was given consent today, Nov. 3, to sell harvested, Crown-land timber to a proposed wood biomass-fueled electrical generation facility for the Strait area.

"Today's announcement is about economic development and environmental progress in Nova Scotia," said Premier Darrell Dexter. "The proposed project can help meet renewable energy targets, create and maintain jobs, all while using sustainable forest practices and protecting Nova Scotia's wood supply."

Premier Dexter noted that the agreement is a strong show of faith in the future of the Port Hawkesbury mill.

NewPage must follow strict conditions on what it does commercially with the logs and other wood fibre products it harvests on Crown land. Only stem wood will be used for fuel supply and there will be no whole-tree harvesting. Tree tops and limbs will be left on the forest floor.

Both the current natural resources strategy consultations, and consultations on renewable energy being conducted by Dr. David Wheeler, dean of Dalhousie University faculty of management, will consider the role of biomass in Nova Scotia.

"I am pleased that government has given its consent to NewPage, and we look forward to the results of the stakeholder consultations on the future of biomass in the province through the Natural Resources strategy and Dr. Wheeler's report," said John MacDonell, Minister of Natural Resources.

"The province looks at biomass issues very carefully. Any new guidelines or policies for the harvest and use of forest biomass will apply to NewPage and will supercede positions in this agreement."

"This consent recognizes the important role that biomass can play in helping the province meet its goal of reduced greenhouse-gas emissions," said Tor Suther, president and general manager of NewPage Port Hawkesbury Corp. "NewPage welcomes government's strict requirements and looks forward to continuing to sustainably manage forest lands while conserving the forest characteristics of value to society, wildlife and the environment.

The proposed project would involve installing a steam turbine to provide about 60 megawatts of electrical generating capacity to Nova Scotia Power, and use low-pressure steam to manufacture paper. The power that will be produced equals 23.5 per cent of what the company currently consumes. It could support 150 potential new jobs that could come from harvesting, transporting and handling the biomass to be used by the project.