C $
MONTREAL,
Nov. 22, 2012 /PRNewswire/ - Resolute
Forest Products (NYSE: RFP) (TSX: RFP) today announced plans to
build an industrial wood pellet plant that will convert a currently
underutilized residual material into a reliable source of renewable
energy. Construction of the plant is expected to begin shortly and
is scheduled for completion in 2014. The Company has signed a
ten-year agreement to supply Ontario Power Generation with 45,000 metric
tons of pellets annually.
The plant will be built adjacent to the
Company's sawmill in Thunder Bay,
Ontario, creating approximately 24 new jobs when fully
operational and improving the long-term viability of the sawmill
and the approximately 350 jobs that it supports.
"Wood pellets are a clean, renewable energy
source, and together with other biofuel opportunities, a natural
diversification target for Resolute," said Richard Garneau, President and Chief Executive
Officer. "This project provides the opportunity to enhance the use
of our existing asset base to produce biofuel for a strategic,
committed consumer and allows the Company to gain valuable
manufacturing experience in commercial biomass production."
Resolute will invest approximately C$10 million in the construction of the plant,
adding to the investments of approximately C$120 million the Company has announced for its
Ontario operations since 2011.
About Resolute Forest Products
Resolute Forest Products is a global leader in the forest products
industry with a diverse range of products, including newsprint,
commercial printing papers, market pulp and wood products. The
Company owns or operates 22 pulp and paper mills and 22 wood
products facilities in the United
States, Canada and
South Korea. Marketing its
products in close to 80 countries, Resolute has third-party
certified 100% of its managed woodlands to sustainable forest
management standards. The shares of Resolute Forest Products trade
under the stock symbol RFP on both the New York Stock Exchange and
the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Resolute and other member companies of the
Forest Products Association of Canada, as well as a number of environmental
organizations, are partners in the Canadian Boreal Forest
Agreement. The group works to identify solutions to conservation
issues that meet the goal of balancing equally the three pillars of
sustainability linked to human activities: environmental, social
and economic. Resolute is also a member of the World Wildlife
Fund's Climate Savers program, in which businesses establish
ambitious targets to voluntarily reduce greenhouse gas emissions
and work aggressively toward achieving them.
SOURCE RESOLUTE FOREST PRODUCTS INC.