Canfor’s Energy Management Program
22 août 2016 15:18 Laisser vos pensées
Driscoll Ridge Trail, 110km East of Prince George
For the past three months I have been working as an Energy Management Co-op at Canfor’s Northwood Pulp mill in Prince George. What is Energy Management you may ask? Initially, I will be honest, I wasn’t too sure either. Canfor’s Energy Management program is focused on developing strategic plans for energy and cost reduction at their various wood products manufacturing facilities. This includes the Sustainable Energy Management Plan (SEMP), which identifies hard-wired energy reductions and demand side management opportunities. Demand side management refers to raising awareness about equipment energy usage, run hours and the correlating maintenance, or associated safety corners. Currently, to date, Energy Management activities are saving over 30,000 MWh/year. Considering Canfor Pulp is aiming to become entirely energy self-sufficient, I think this is a pretty big deal. The majority of the savings are primarily due to installation of high-efficiency equipment as well as capital projects co-funded by BC Hydro.
Overseeing both small and large scale energy reductions is the Energy Manager. The development and implementation of these reductions are carried out by the Energy Leaders, located at the Northwood and PGI mills in Prince George. I work under Teddy Townsley, the Energy Leader here at Northwood. Teddy’s position is co-funded by BC hydro and primarily focuses on developing and identifying energy-saving opportunities. The position, implemented in 2009, originally stemmed from discussions between Canfor and BC Hydro regarding on-site power generation. Along with a new power contract, as mentioned, Canfor had the opportunity to bring onboard an Energy Manager and two Energy Leaders.
Additional online capacity from mills in South America and South East Asia have placed pressure on pulp and paper operations worldwide to retain a low production cost. This can be further augmented with conservation projects such as demand side management and upgrades to more efficient equipment or processes. And that is exactly what Canfor is doing. To be effective, an energy program must encompass employees in various divisions throughout the mill developing and sharing their job experience and expertise. Here, at Northwood, there is a cross-functional Energy Team in place. The team, consisting of staff from various fields throughout the mill, volunteer their time to implement various energy saving projects and employee awareness programs. Through observing them for the past few months, I have realized the extent of resources, knowledge and effort needed to carry out a successful Energy Management program. This whole experience, through watching their continuous improvements in energy conservation and optimizing electricity generation, has not only taught me a lot about Energy Management but the importance of it as well.