Our Clermont Mill, a nearly century-old institution in Quebec’s Charlevoix region, has long been a pillar of the local community. The mill is home to a paper machine that produces 221,000 metric tons of newsprint a year from thermomechanical pulp. Faced with the high energy demands of paper production, the mill rose to the challenge with an innovative energy recovery project. Fully aware of the opportunities to optimize steam consumption, the team at the Clermont Mill partnered with Hydro-Québec to develop an ambitious energy recovery project. Hydro-Québec provided CA$3 million of financial assistance to help the mill reduce its steam consumption by capturing and reusing waste heat. The project involved installing heat exchangers and two water-to-water heat pumps, directly integrated into the paper production process — a first for Quebec’s pulp and paper industry. The initiative has yielded significant results, including an annual savings of CA$800,000 and a 15-million-kWh reduction in energy consumption. To better illustrate the impact, the energy saved could power 880 houses, a statistic that highlights the project’s economic and environmental benefits.