May 16 2007
Pristine Power and Nexterra Energy Corp. have formed a strategic alliance that will reach out to Interior communities and sawmills to join a precedent-setting initiative to create more value from their pine-beetle ravaged forest resources by generating up to 200 megawatts (MW) of clean, renewable energy.
The BC Bioenergy Power Network, a response to the recently released BC Government Energy Plan and BC Hydro's request for biomass energy proposals, reflects a fundamental rethinking of how best to produce clean, renewable electricity in significant volumes. The Network will consist of over 15 individual projects, each 10 to 20 MW's in size that will be widely distributed across BC. These projects could be located in any forest-dependent community with access to sufficient quantities of wood residue.
A key to the Network is Nexterra's leading-edge proprietary gasification technology. This technology converts waste wood from mills, abandoned logging slash and beetle-killed wood into syngas which is then used to generate electricity. Its inherent efficiencies and modular design make this system economic in small and medium sized applications. Utilizing Nexterra gasifiers, Pristine aims to build small, community-based generation facilities at mills and in communities throughout BC's central and southern Interior.
"We believe the BC Bioenergy Power Network is the best option for converting BC's vast wood residue resources into clean, reliable and renewable power," said Harvie Campbell, Executive Vice President of Pristine Power Inc. "Our proposal to BC Hydro will further advance BC as a North American leader in clean energy while creating hundreds of good-paying jobs, new opportunities and a better future for communities and First Nations as they work to recover from the devastating effects of the mountain pine beetle."
"The Bioenergy Power Network is about setting a new standard for creating green power from biomass," said Jonathan Rhone, CEO of Nexterra Energy. "This alliance between Pristine Power and Nexterra Energy is a powerful combination of technology, power industry experience and financial resources that will help BC achieve its Energy Plan objectives and BC forest communities to create sustained value from its wood residue resources."
http://www.pristinepower.ca and http://www.nexterra.ca