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Hydro mulls Norske power play |
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By Grant Warkentin BC Hydro’s biggest customer is proposing to generate its own electricity. Dennis Fitzgerald, NorskeCanada’s director of energy, said projects at the company’s operations in Elk Falls, Port Alberni , Crofton and Powell River are under consideration. “The projects are either new generation itself, or it’s load reductions, or energy efficiency projects,” he said. “When I say new generation I don’t mean anything like what already exists at Elk Falls, vis-a-vis the (cogen) plant, so new generation would be somewhat smaller than that.” Fitzgerald said the projects planned for the pulp mills are small-scale, but would collectively conserve or generate enough electricity to match the output of a massive gas-fired power plant BC Hydro has in the works for Duke Point. Two weeks ago, BC Hydro announced that its Duke Point project, a 265-megawatt plant, was being indefinitely delayed while it examined Norske’s proposal. “Basically what it comes down to, we’re evaluating Norske’s proposal to see how much power they can bring in, and how much they can take off,” said Elisha Odowichuk, Hydro’s public affairs co-ordinator. She said the public utility is now assessing the full impact of Norske’s proposals before proceeding. Fitzgerald said Norske is waiting eagerly for BC Hydro’s final assessment. “The timing is kind of up to them – they’re the ones that are best in a position to assess the need for new supply, and that’s really what’s behind their current plans for the Duke Point plant,” he said. Fitzgerald believes Norske’s power project proposals would help take a load off the Island’s electricity needs, but said they wouldn’t be enough for the mills to be independent of the main grid or for the company to sell power back to BC Hydro. “(The projects) would probably represent half to a third of Norske’s requirements,” he said. “We’re not anticipating actually selling any power back out to the grid – these projects would only displace power that’s currently being purchased off of the grid.” Norske’s projects don’t come as a surprise – NorskeCanada CEO Russell Horner said last fall the paper-manufacturing giant was looking at getting into the electricity-generation business. However, other Island companies might soon follow the paper giant’s lead. “I understand there are other companies that have similar ideas on the Island that would also like to supply into the grid as well,” Fitzgerald said. |
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