Pytrade aiming for June start up

Pytrade’s bio-fuel/greenhouse project for Kitimat is a signature away from getting into gear.

  • Dec. 23, 2011 6:00 a.m.

Pytrade’s bio-fuel/greenhouse project for Kitimat

is a signature away from getting into gear.

In late July the provincial government approved

a $1 million ICE (Innovative Clean Energy)

grant for the project.

Since then, says Pytrade CEO Erich Fussl, the

company and government have been negotiating

the terms and conditions for the grant.

Last Thursday he told the Northern Sentinel

a “contribution agreement” had been reached and

the deputy minister of the Energy ministry was

expected to sign off on the deal “within the next

few days”.

And with that signing, the fi rst instalment of

the ICE grant would be paid to the company.

Asked how much that would be and what the

rest of the payment schedule was, Fussl said, “that

information is confi dential between the province

and us and I can’t share it with you.”

But that fi rst payment will set the wheels in

motion.

That included shipping the equipment and

components that had already been manufactured

in Germany and had been stored there awaiting

fi nalization of the ICE grant.

Pytrade paid the cost of manufacturing that

equipment which Fussl said the province agrees is

worth $5.25 million.

If all goes according to plan he said construction

would start in March or April with a start-up

date of June.

The company has already identifi ed a site for

the project, a piece of property adjacent to the

railway line and to the north of the old railway

station in the Service Centre (Northern Sentinel,

August 3).

Fussl said last week that talks with Rio Tinto

Alcan were ongoing regarding the purchase of

that approximately 20 acre site.

And he had a surprising piece of news regarding

the future of the project – once it had been up

and running for 10 years, Pytrade was going to

give it the BOOT.

That’s the acronym for build-own-operatetransfer

and means that after that period the company

would surrender ownership of the plant.

Fussl suggested options could be transferring

ownership to a special Crown agency (the

province) or some form of foundation involving

“direct involvement” of the public and/or fi rst nations.

“We will offer a model whereby Pytrade carries

all the risk associated with the project (and)

the recipient will take over with a 10-year history

of successful operation”.

While the proposal may sound astonishing,

he said, “it is fairly common in developing countries

where investment dollars are scarce and the

government is seeking solutions to the benefi t of

the public.”

Why do it? Fussl said the company would be

taking taxpayer dollars to make the project a go and

wanted to give something back beyond just creating

new jobs.

“We hope that our model and initiative will become

a standard practice in public funding and grant

program and that more project sponsors will take responsibility

to give back,” he added.

Fussl said this proposal had been put to the province

which is reviewing it, adding, “We hope to start

talks as soon as possible.”

And he encourages the public to be involved in

the discussion of just how this eventual transfer is

done.

So if anyone has an idea or suggestion, he says

they can e-mail it to offi ce@pytrade.ca.

✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸

The pyrolisis process takes wood waste such as

wood chips or hog fuel and produces a bio-fuel that

can be used in a modifi ed diesel engine.

Which in turn will produce the electricity and

heat required to run four greenhouses, each 30ft x

100ft.

Emphasizing this is not a pilot project, Fussl

points out they have had a pyrolisis plant operating

in Germany since 2006.

 

Kitimat Northern Sentinel