Following up on its commitment, Québec Port Authority (QPA) announced the creation of an advisory committee whose mandate will be to recommend to the Port the best way to ensure the harmonious visual integration of the two domes of the new wood pellet terminal in Anse au Foulon. Last November, at the start of construction of the wood pellet terminal in the Anse au Foulon port sector, QPA formally committed to create this committee.
In cooperation with Ville de Québec authorities, it was agreed that the advisory committee will be chaired by John R. Porter, museum specialist and cultural projects manager. The committee will also include Julie Lemieux, city councillor for the Chute-Montmorency–Seigneurial district and Vice-President of the executive committee for the Ville de Québec; Paul Béliveau, visual artist; Nancy Florence Savard, President of 10th Ave Productions, a television and digital film production house; and Claude Rousseau, president of the Québec Remparts and QPA Board member.
The committee will recommend the best way to respond to the objective of visually integrating the domes into their environment, whether by lighting, multimedia, fresco or urban development, taking into account the technical constraints of the buildings, the reality of the port environment where the terminal is located, and the future implementation of the Promenade Samuel-de-Champlain 3B development project initiated by QPA. It will also make recommendations to QPA concerning the choice of organization to carry out the project. To this end, the committee will meet with organizations that are interested in becoming involved in the project. The committee may invite recognized organizations to submit proposals, should this approach be deemed useful. The report on the committee’s work will be submitted by March 31, 2014.
Rentech Inc., a U.S. corporation, has entered into a long-term contract with Quebec Stevedoring at the port of Quebec to provide stevedoring and warehousing services for the transshipment of wood pellets to be produced at Rentech’s plant in Wawa, Ontario, which is currently being readied for production, commencing in the early summer of 2014. Output from the Wawa plant, planned at 360,000 tonnes annually, will be sold to Drax Power Limited, an electrical power utility based in the U.K.
The contract with Quebec Stevedoring is designed to support the ten-year term and volume commitments of the Drax contract as well as future pellet exports through the port of Quebec. Quebec Stevedoring will invest an estimated $20 million to build handling equipment and 75,000 tonnes of pellet storage exclusively for Rentech’s use at the port.
Offering year-round terminal access, Port of Quebec is expected to become the largest bulk pellet terminal in Eastern Canada as a result of this contract. Rentech has also secured a long-term contract with CN to transport the wood pellets from its Wawa facility, and from its Atikokan facility to the port of Quebec.