The province has approved conversion of the Atikokan Generating Station to biomass fuel from coal, and has directed the Ontario Power Authority to negotiate an agreement to buy the biomass power generated at Atikokan from Ontario Power Generation, the plant‘s owners.

“This signals a bright new future for Atikokan,” MPP Bill Mauro (L-Thunder Bay-Atikokan) said Thursday during a news conference in Atikokan. The plant conversion will take three years and create up to 200 construction jobs, and help protect jobs at the plant, Mauro said. It will also support 20 to 25 jobs at a wood pellet facility and help sustain jobs in the forestry sector, he added.

Mauro said the plant‘s biomass fuel “will (not only) spur on a new industry that will create more jobs, (but) we‘ve secured a large part of the municipal tax base.”  The plant currently employs 90 people. The conversion will take the province one step closer to its pledge to eliminate coal-fired generation by the end of 2014.

“(This) announcement marks the end of six years of effort to keep this generating station running,” Mauro said. “Closure of this plant would have been devastating to the businesses and homeowners in Atikokan. “I‘ve long been advocating for repowering the Atikokan station to biomass, because it makes sense for our economy and our environment.‘‘ Atikokan Mayor Dennis Brown called the conversion approval “splendid news for Atikokan.‘‘

“This is the beginning of an exciting new future for the Atikokan plant and the community,” said Energy Minister Brad Duguid. “With its conversion to biomass, we‘re helping to build a made-in-Ontario industry, adding a new source of clean energy and supporting local jobs,” said Duguid. OPG senior vice-president (thermal) Frank Chiarotto called the announcement “a major milestone” for the Atikokan biomass project.

“Atikokan can provide Ontario with a new source of renewable energy and Northwestern Ontario with economic benefits for years to come,” Chiarotto said. “This is good news for OPG, Northwestern Ontario and the province.” Once converted, the Atikokan plant is expected to generate 150 million kilowatt-hours of renewable power, enough to power 15,000 homes a year.