Biomass conundrum continues as Thunder Bay remains idle

Ontario Power Generation (OPG) is considering turning the facility at Mission Island into a biomass-based generator.

As the province moves away from coal-fired plants, work converting the Thunder Bay facility from coal to natural gas was suspended in November as OPG looks at other options.

OPG Northwest Thermal plant manager Chris Fralick is confident that Thunder Bay will remain operational after 2014 but that ‘there’s a lot of uncertainty that needs to be sorted out but the need for Thunder Bay is not being questioned’.

The other plant that falls under Fralick’s jurisdiction, Atikokan, is currently being converted to biomass burning.