Indeck Energy Services Inc., a privately held energy company with more than 20 years of experience in renewable and conventional power plants, and partner Midwest Forest Products Co. (MFP), a timber management and logging firm with more than 30 years of experience, started up their first joint venture in the renewable biomass pellet business on July 15 last year. In just over a month, Indeck Ladysmith Biofuel Center had ramped up to 75% of the plant’s projected annual capacity. Now at full capacity the facility is primarily focused on domestic markets, supplying residential heating and industrial power generation needs.
Originally the 34 acre site in Ladysmith’s Industrial Forest Products Park was slated to become Indeck Energy’s second wood power plant. That project was tabled, but it brought management from Indeck and MFP together, leading to formation of the Ladysmith partnership. Both companies had also been eying the growing pellet fuel business and saw it as a potential opportunity to develop.
Site attributes were equally applicable to making pellets as they were for generating power. Plentiful wood basket; highly skilled workforce in the forest industry; access to cost effective rail transportation; and a receptive local community were considered key assets of the location. The City of Ladysmith provided assistance with obtaining a grant to construct a rail spur, tax incentives and TIF (tax induced financing) funding for infrastructure development.
A pellet mill utilizing the wood resource was a natural extension of the energy company’s focus on renewable energy production. Indeck already had renewable power plants operating in New England. To spearhead the pellet project Indeck Energy hired experienced veterans of the OSB (oriented strandboard) industry. Plant manager Jeff Schultz and safety, quality control, logistics manager Darren Winchester together have nearly 50 years of experience in the OSB and engineered wood products industry. That training is reflected in their approach to product formulation, quality control and safety training.
Pooling Indeck’s technical expertise and the forest procurement expertise of MFP has proven to be a winning combination for the new plant. The mill runs a 24/7 operation with two 12-hour shifts, four crews and 27 employees.