New $430M Niagara Falls Paper Mill to Be Equipped, Electrified, and Serviced by Siemens

Siemens (News - Alert) Industry, has recently received a multi-million dollar order from Greenpac Mill, a Cascades  affiliate, to supply the complete electrification and service for a new $430 million green containerboard mill in Niagara Falls, New York.

Founded in 1964 in Montreal, Canada, Cascades converts, produces, and markets packaging and tissue products composed mainly of recycled fibers. Cascades' Greenpac Mill project will use 100 percent recycled fiber input to produce approximately 526, 000 tons of linerboard per year. The building and machinery will be designed for optimal energy efficiency, and process water will be treated and reused in order to reduce consumption. The mill will also include numerous technological advances, making it a unique project of its kind in North America.

"We are thrilled that Greenpac has selected Siemens for this innovative project," said Jagannath Rao, president of industry solutions at Siemens Industry. "Our energy efficient technology, combined with Greenpac's sustainable products, will meet the needs of its customers at a reduced cost for many years to come."

Siemens will provide a fully-integrated automation solution and the complete electric power distribution equipment for the new 250,000-square-foot mill, including drives, motors, gear boxes, and stock preparation as well as paper machine equipment and services.  The equipment will include medium- and low -voltage switchgear, power transformers, variable speed drives, and medium and low voltage motion control centers.

Siemens technology offers a unique level of integration into an automation system that reduces the number of human machine interfaces (HMI) and ensures maximum data transparency across all levels.  Customer benefits will include optimized process operation and reduced maintenance costs in addition to a shorter project schedule for the customer, increased cost-savings, higher system availability and flexibility, and reduced expenses for configuration and commissioning.

According to a press release, the process control system will also provide a single view of the entire facility, which will help minimize development, implementation, and life-cycle costs; and reduce engineering resources. Siemens will provide all main service components for the mill, including engineering, project management, and commissioning and start-up assistance. The order also includes a three-year site support agreement complete with a 99 percent uptime guarantee , and spare parts and services.

GE Capital is administrative agent for a total of $228.9 million in project finance credit facilities to fund the development, construction, and operation of Greenpac Mill.  "Industrial project finance is inherently complex, but our capital markets, structuring, and industry expertise enables us to meet customer needs in this space," said Jeff Lupoff, senior managing director of project finance for Norwalk, Connecticut- based GE Capital, Corporate Finance. "We're proud to be involved in this project to build an environmentally conscious mill that will create both temporary and permanent jobs."

Construction of the mill will begin in July and is expected to create 108 new jobs in New York. Start-up is scheduled for the summer of 2013.