Weyerhaeuser, Nippon Paper Industries, Cowlitz County Public Utility District, and the Bonneville Power Administration have launched the largest industrial energy efficiency project in BPA history and one of the largest energy efficiency projects in the United States to date, at a North Pacific Paper Corporation facility.

The $60 million project, referred to as a “Chip Pre-Treatment Interstage Screen Project,” adds two new components to the Norpac facility. The first is chip pretreatment equipment that treats wood chips with steam and chemicals prior to refining the chips into pulp, resulting in reduced pulp bleaching and brightening costs. Secondly, the project has added an inter-stage screening process that reduces the amount of wood chips going through two stages of energy-intensive refining, again reducing energy use.

When complete, the project is expected to save 100 million kWh per year. The first phase of the project was completed in June 2011 and the second and final phase is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2013.