OTTAWA,
March 25, 2011
(Market Wire) -
The Honourable Denis Lebel, Minister of State for the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec, on behalf of the Honourable Christian Paradis, Minister of Natural Resources, today announced an important investment at Fibrek mill in Saint-Félicien, Quebec, to help the mill modernize its facility and enhance its environmental performance.
The Fibrek mill will receive $6.1 million under the Pulp and Paper Green Transformation Program. This funding will allow Fibrek to install five electrical motors that will increase its green energy production capacity by approximately six megawatts. It is expected that this project will also help save enough energy to power over 1,700 homes.
"Today's announcement highlights our government's commitment to the transformation of the forest industry," said Minister Lebel. "Our investments are supporting expansion of market opportunities for Canadian forest products, reducing our environmental footprint, improving the competitiveness of the forest industry and helping protect the jobs of the families who depend on our forest sector for their livelihood."
"This timely help from the federal government is an incentive toward the completion of a very important project for Fibrek's cogeneration plant in Saint-Félicien," said Pierre Gabriel Côté, President and CEO of Fibrek. "This project will allow us, not only to increase our leadership in the production of green energy, but also to improve our mill's competitiveness."
Fibrek is one of 24 pulp and paper companies across Canada that qualified for credits under the Pulp and Paper Green Transformation Program. Fibrek has generated a total of $20.9 million in credits.
Despite signs of recovery in some segments of the forest sector, there remains a need to find new and more efficient ways of using wood, wood fibre and its byproducts. A central part of the federal forest sector strategy, the Pulp and Paper Green Transformation Program is laying the groundwork for a greener and more competitive forest sector through capital investments in pulp and paper mills across Canada.
Today's announcement builds on the success of many initiatives that are helping to sustain and enhance Canada's forest industry and the communities that depend on it. Budget 2010: Leading the Way on Jobs and Growth established the $100-million Investments in Forest Industry Transformation program to promote the development, commercialization and implementation of advanced technologies in the forest sector - helping create a world-class industry able to compete in the clean energy economy of tomorrow.
