A curtailment has been announced at the Pinnacle Pellet Plant in Kersley.
Leroy Reitsma, the President and Chief Operating Officer of Pinnacle Renewable Energy, says the move is the result of a huge shift in the fibre balance in the region with a number of sawmill related curtailments due to the mountain pine beetle.
He says “they are taking this pause in operations to look at what types of fibre we can secure over a long enough period of time to sort of support a reinvestment in q and sort of rejuvenate that operation.”
Reitsma says he expects the plant to be down for about 9 to 10 months and adds that they are pleased with the effort being put in by the Ministry of Forests to help to create a more secure access to some of the non saw log component of the stand that has been effected by the mountain pine beetle and recent wildfires.
He says around 19 employees will be effected and Reitsma says they are making every effort to try and relocate them to other operations such as their operations in Williams Lake and just north of Quesnel near Hixon.
He says some staff will remain on site to protect the assets.
Reitsma says the fibre supply in the Williams Lake region has remained buoyant enough to support the ongoing operations at that facility so there will be no change there.
He says there will also be no change in the operation north of Quesnel as it was built to be able to handle a much more diversified fibre mix.
