Australia’s only surviving newsprint paper producer has been extended a new lifeline, with the promise of a $24 million federal grant that will help to wean it off coal.
In a joint pre-election announcement from prime minister Anthony Albanese and federal energy minister Chris Bowen, federal Labor has committed $9 million to support Tasmania’s Boyer Paper Mill over the next two years, followed by an additional $15 million over the longer term.
The money will be used for investments in electrification, to replace the mill’s ageing coal-fired boilers, and to update the mill’s product range, locking in a sustainable long-term future for 310 local workers and the broader local community, including associated forestry workers.
“Decarbonising our industries and manufacturing isn’t just good for bringing emissions down, it makes good economic sense, as companies switch to running on not just the cleanest, but the cheapest form of energy – reliable renewables,” said Bowen on Tuesday.
The Boyer Paper Mill, located in southeastern Tasmania, first opened in 1941 and has supplied paper to virtually every major newspaper in Australia at some point over the past 80 years.
With the rise in digital media and decline in demand for printed press, the mill has undergone a series of ownership changes and threats of closure during recent times.
Australia, New Zealand, Norway and back again
The paper mill was owned and backed by a consortium of Australian newspaper publishers – Australian Newsprint Mills Pty Ltd (ANM) – until 1988, when outdated machinery and global competition threatened to shut the mill.
However, ownership of the mill transferred across the ditch in the late 1980s, after New Zealand-based conglomerate Fletcher Challenge acquired ANM. The mill underwent huge changes around this time, with the new owner slashing the mill’s workforce from 3000 to just 600.
Ownership of the mill changed hands again around the turn of the century, when Norwegian pulp and paper company Norske Skog acquired Fletcher Challenge’s paper subsidiary for around NZ$5 billion (A$4.65 billion).
Despite The NZ Herald describing the paper division as “struggling” and “cumbersome” in an article published around the time of the acquisition, the future of Boyer Mill was secured once again after Norske guaranteed to honour existing employment contracts.
After operating the Boyer facility for over a quarter of a century, Norske sold the mill to Australian investment firm Boyer Capital Partners in February this year for a reported NOK190 million (A$28.5 million).
Boyer Capital Partners is spearheaded by Melbourne-based businessman David Marriner.
Electrification of the mill
In an effort to find greener alternatives at the Boyer site, former owner Norske Skog completed a feasibility study during 2023 assessing the potential impacts of replacing the coal-fired boilers with electrode boilers. During its ownership, Norske also investigated switching to burning biomass instead of coal at the plant.
It was reported last year that Norske’s plans for electrode boilers fell through, after Hydro Tasmania said it wouldn’t be able to supply the additional 50MW of electricity needed to power the electric boilers.
In its own press release welcoming the investment, general manager of Boyer Mill, Patrick Dooley, confirmed that Boyer Capital will continue previous decarbonisation efforts begun by Norske.
“The funding commitment, together with the Prime Minister’s encouragement for us to apply for support via the Powering the Regions Fund, is most welcome as we start the next chapter of our long history as one of Tasmania’s cornerstone industries and major employers,” Dooley said on Tuesday.
As part of its transition away from fossil fuels, Boyer Capital will use the government funds to switch the existing coal-fired boilers with electrode boilers – reducing scope 1 greenhouse emissions by 175,000 tonnes of CO2e per annum.
Dooley added that the money will be used to transform Boyer Mill from a single use site, to one that would include the production of a diverse range of paper grades, education and training facilities, advanced manufacturing, renewable energy and sustainable housing initiatives.
One of multiple government funding packages
With the Boyer facility still running on coal-fired boilers to support operations, the mill is a huge contributor to the state’s overall greenhouse gas emissions and is currently ranked as the fourth largest industrial source of emissions in Tasmania.
Before the sale in February, Norske revealed that the Boyer Mill was responsible for 63% of the entire company’s scope 1 greenhouse gas emissions and an even larger 74% of its scope 2 emissions.
The mill reportedly burns between 80,000-90,000 tonnes of coal each year, delivered to the site from interstate.
The funding promised by Labor follows on from a series of government-issued funding packages aimed at diversifying operations and reducing greenhouse gas emissions at the site.
In 2012, the then federal Labor government led by Julia Gillard issued Norske with a $28 million grant to upgrade one of the machines at the Boyer Mill, enabling it to also produce lightweight coated paper. The Tasmanian state government also supported the project with a $13 million loan.
In the lead up to the 2022 Federal election, both Liberal and Labor parties pledged a further $2 million to the site, which Norske said would be used to “bring forward work to examine the opportunity to reduce greenhouse emissions by about 160,000 tons of CO2 per year.”
