Coal-to-pellet conversion ready to go

Atikokan Mayor Dennis Brown says the plan to convert the town's generating station from coal-fired to wood pellets is ready to go pending approval from the province.

The McGuinty-led provincial government has said it will close or convert all four coal-fired power stations by 2014. Last year the province announced plans to convert the Atikokan operation to the carbon neutral, environmentally friendly, wood pellets by 2012.

Mayor Brown recently met with Energy Minister Brad Duguid in Toronto to discuss the move. Brown says he now feels confident there will be a positive announcement by the end of the month.

The Atikokan OPG station currently employs about 90 people and pays about $2-million annually to the town.

Brown says the switch to wood pellets will mean added economic spinoffs for the region.

The tender for supplying wood pellets is the centrepiece of the plans for Atikokan Renewable Fuels. A Thunder Bay company is now in the process of converting the old Fibratech operation to produce industrial wood pellets.

The Thunder Bay OPG plant is tentatively scheduled to switch from coal to biomass by 2013.