GDF Suez has also agreed to purchase 2.5 million tonnes of carbon-neutral wood pellets for its electrical generating facilities in Belgium over the next 10 years, replacing approximately 2 million tonnes of coal and reducing net CO2 emissions by over 4 million tonnes.
The expansion project, expected to be complete in the fall of 2010, will see annual wood pellet production at the PG Plant double to 350,000 tonnes. The company said that new emission control equipment will be installed, improving the air quality in and around Prince George.
The expanded PG Plant will also utilize more mountain pine beetle killed wood and other waste wood from the forests surrounding Prince George.
Don Steele, chairman and CEO of Pacific BioEnergy, said: “This new partnership with GDF Suez will provide significant benefits to Prince George and help strengthen British Columbia as a global leader in biomass energy with one of Europe’s leading green energy practioners.
“The leadership of Premier Gordon Campbell and government in supporting growth and development of BC’s bioenergy sector has laid a foundation upon which to build projects like the expansion at our Prince George facility.”
Dirk Beeuwsaert, executive vice president of GDF Suez, said: “Our use of carbon-neutral wood pellets from British Columbia allows us to lower our CO2 emissions at our electrical generating plants, and to achieve the goals concerning renewable energy set out by the European Union.”
