Designed and operated by Dalkia, the Merritt plant will consume 307,000mt of biomass annually, mainly sawmill waste.
Dalkia will provide the industrial management and maintenance of the facilities as well as biomass supply and preparation services, as part of a design, finance, build, operate and maintain (DFBOM) contract.
Capable of avoiding the annual discharge of around 95,000 metric tons of CO2 which is equivalent of more than 45,000 cars off the road, the 40MW plant will supply electricity to BC Hydro & Power Authority to power almost 40,000 Canadian households.
Financed by Fengate Capital Management together with a number of international and Canadian banks, the project will create around 250 jobs during the construction phase as well as 80 new direct and indirect jobs during its 30-year operation.
Veolia chairman and CEO Antoine Frérot said: "After Fort St. James, construction of which started at the end of 2013, the Merritt biomass power plant will be one of the largest and most efficient in North America.
"Our cooperation with Fengate Capital Management Ltd. enables us to provide our customers with the best of our combined expertise: the design and operation of the most complex facilities on the one hand, and asset financing on the other."
