Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Pristine Power executive vice-president Harvie Campbell was one of the guest speakers at Bioenergy: Solutions for Community Sustainability, a bioenergy conference hosted in Prince George last week.

Campbell said Pristine, which has developed 5,000 megawatts of clean power projects around the world, is developing projects in Mackenzie, Burns Lake, Fort St. James and Merrit.

"Bioenergy development has significant potential in B.C.'s north and interior," Campbell said. "The Mackenzie project is contracted (by B.C. Hydro) but struggling to get going. This and dozens of other projects are held in abeyance until the rules of the road are clarified."

Independent power producers operate like small utilities, he said, and their revenue is fairly fixed. Whether that electricity can be generated at a profit is based on the cost of the inputs.

"It's not so much about access to fibre as who bares the risk and cost of harvesting that fibre," Campbell said. "B.C. Hydro needs clear direction and a mandate on how to address the risk management aspect of bioenergy projects."

Sawmill residues, roadside debris from logging activities and degraded pine beetle stands are the primary inputs for the proposed power plants, he said. If a sawmill shuts down and cuts off the supply of residues, those input costs can go from $20-30 per megawatt to $70-80 per megawatt, he explained.

"In Williams Lake (at the bioenergy plant) the cost of fibre is 100 per cent flow-through to B.C. Hydro," Campbell said. "All natural gas plants the cost of gas is 100 per cent flow-through to B.C. Hydro. We're not looking to invent something new here."

The three 30 megawatt plants planned for Burns Lake and Fort St. James would each cost $120 million to develop and create approximately 72 full-time jobs — 12 at the plant and 60 harvesting, transporting and managing the fibre.

"It's a new revenue stream for the local mill. And with many of these projects there's a heat component as well," Campbell said. "It's really down to what happens if that mill shuts down."

The 65 megawatt project in Mackenzie could begin construction in six months, once the supply risk issue is resolved. The other three project could likely begin within 12 months, Campbell said.

"Victoria is working very hard to figure out those rules of the road. (But) we've been waiting for phase two of the bioenergy call for, what, 18 months."

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