International Paper Extends “Virtual Pipeline” Contract with NG Advantage

NG Advantage, a majority-owned subsidiary of Clean Energy, announced that it has signed an eighteen month contract extension with International Paper. Under this extension, NG Advantage will continue delivering CNG to International Paper’s Ticonderoga, New York, paper mill using its virtual or mobile pipeline of tractor-trailers that deliver 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

International Paper had long been planning a switch to natural gas to displace much of the #6 fuel oil used at the Ticonderoga mill in order to substantially reduce its environmental footprint and to take advantage of the price stability of the domestic fuel.

A mill as large as Ticonderoga requires a customized end-to-end energy supply chain. NG Advantage designed new hardware, developed new procedures, and built extensions to its cloud-based SCADA (control software). The result was deliveries beginning on schedule in May of 2015 with NG Advantage providing the mill with approximately 18 trailer loads of natural gas daily.

International Paper canceled its plans for a pipeline because of escalating delays and costs and issued an RFP for long-term virtual pipeline service to keep natural gas in their fuel mix. International Paper is the seventh paper mill and the twenty-sixth location to contract with NG Advantage.