Five banks including Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi (coordinating bank), Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, National Bank of Canada (administrative agent), Natixis and Rabobank have provided debt financing of over $175m to the project, which will now enter the construction phase.
Located near Fort St. James, the $235m facility will generate over 285,000MWh of clean power, which is enough to power around 40,000 homes annually.
To be fuelled by around 200,000 metric tones (dry) of biomass annually, the facility will sell its output to BC Hydro under a 30-year electricity purchase agreement when operational in summer 2016.
Dalkia will operate the facility under a long-term operations and maintenance agreement, while fuel for the facility is being supplied by Dalkia, Fengate and local partners under a fuel supply agreement.
Backed by the BC Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations’ 20-year, bio-energy harvest licence, the facility will be fuelled with a combination of road side debris and local saw mill waste.
The project will create around 250 construction jobs at its peak and 22 full-time staff for operations as well as provide in direct and indirect employment for around 60 people for fuel sourcing operations over the project’s lifespan.
