Nova Scotia Power Inc. and NewPage Port Hawkesbury Corp. have
agreed to develop a new 60-megawatt biomass co-generation project
in Nova Scotia.
Nova Scotia Power, a unit of Emera Inc. (EMA.T), will invest
C$200 million in the project, including C$93 million in
construction costs for new facilities, C$80 million to purchase
assets from NewPage, and other related costs.
The NewPage Corp. unit will be responsible for the construction
and operation of the co-generation facility and will be completely
responsible for fuel supply.
Ohio-based NewPage Corp. is the largest coated paper maker in
North America. It has operated the NewPage Port Hawkesbury mill in
Point Tupper, N.S. since the early 1960s.
The new project is subject to regulatory approval from the Nova
Scotia Utility and Review Board and has a targeted in-service date
of late 2012.
Nova Scotia Power said the co-generation facility could supply
the eastern Canadian province with about 400 gigawatt hours of
electricity a year, representing about 3% of Nova Scotia's total
electricity requirement. The project is expected to create about
150 new jobs in northern Nova Scotia, primarily in the forestry
sector, in addition to maintaining the Port Hawkesbury mill's
existing workforce of about 550 employees.
-By Judy McKinnon, Dow Jones Newswires; 416-306-2100;
judy.mckinnon@dowjones.com