Area pellet plant struggling amid wood-supply announcement delay

An Atikokan wood pellet production facility that could create about 150 jobs in this region cannot move forward because of provincial delays, said the facilities owner.

Atikokan Renewable Fuels is converting the old Fibre-tech facility in Atikokan into a wood pellet manufacturing facility. Ontario’s wood supply competition was originally supposed to conclude in the fall, but now announcements aren’t likely until early 2011.

Atikokan Renewable Fuels partner Ed Fukushima said until Northern Development Mines and Forestry Minister Michael Gravelle makes the much anticipated announcements surrounding the provincial wood supply competition, everything is at a standstill.

“We’ve made a major investment in the plant in Atikokan and all we’re doing now is heating up a big empty building and paying property taxes on something we can’t do anything with,” said Fukushima. “So we need (the province) to get their act together and get us into business.”

He added that major potential users have been forced to walk away from negotiations with the company because supply of the pellets could not be guaranteed.

Minister Gravelle originally said announcements on wood applications would start in October, but has since said those announcements would be delayed until sometime early in 2011.

“I understand the frustration, I really do,” Gravelle said. “But we need to be able to do this in a fair and proper fashion. I’m very optimistic that we will be able to have some good news (in the new year).”

Atikokan Renewable Fuels also has a bid for the contract to supply pellets to the Atikokan Generating Station. The power station is switching from coal to bio-mass as a fuel supply.