Tembec Inc., Montreal, Que., Canada, recently released an operating and earnings report detailing its industry segments and the current state of the Teiscaming Cogen project. According to the report, construction of the Temiscaming Cogen project is now projected at $265 million, up $10 million from the previous estimate, mainly due to higher labor costs, and $30 million higher than an original estimate. The boiler and turbine have been installed and the turbine is expected to begin producing contract power by mid-December, about two weeks later than originally anticipated.

The Tembec mill site is also being subjected to a strike by unionized workers who voted in an overwhelming majority (94%) to reject the employer’s last offer in late November. It is not currently known if the action affecting the site’s 850 employees will delay the company’s plans. 

The Temiscaming Cogen project is a cellulose production and energy co-generation project. The project involves the replacement of three low-pressure boilers with a single new high-pressure boiler designed to burn waste sulfite liquor generated by the specialty cellulose manufacturing process. The project also includes the installation of a new 50 MW electrical turbine.