Clean power from wood pellets
Although biomass power remains one of the lesser-known renewable energy sources currently used in Ontario, it is a powerful example of ingenuity that is helping shape a cleaner energy future for the province. Our Atikokan Generating Station was converted from burning coal into the largest 100% biomass-fuelled plant in North America.
Explore the benefits of clean, efficient biomass power for Ontario.
Biomass fleet
205
MW in-service generating capacity (Dec. 31, 2023)
1
station fuelled by sustainable biomass
100
of biomass fuel from local Ontario producers
75
less nitrogen oxide emissions, near-zero sulphur dioxide
Coal, conversion, and climate
In April 2014, Ontario Power Generation (OPG) burned its last piece of coal to generate electricity in Ontario. This transition off coal remains one of the world’s single largest actions to fight climate change and is the equivalent of taking seven million cars off the road. This made Ontario the first jurisdiction in North America to fully eliminate coal as a source of electricity generation.
Following the coal closures, Atikokan Generating Station was converted from coal to use biomass as fuel.
The station is now the largest 100% biomass-fuelled plant in North America, providing renewable energy that can be dispatched whenever Ontario’s power system requires it.
Biomass wood pellets are a sustainable fuel recognized as beneficial to climate change mitigation in the Biomass Sustainability Analysis Report by the Pembina Institute.
Our biomass generation
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