The office space of the facility is mostly constructed and just awaits drywalling and other interior finishing touches. It will include a transition zone where workers will change from civilian clothes into work gear as a part of the plant’s hygienic practices. (rdnewsNOW/Ashley Lavallee-Koenig)

By Ashley Lavallee-Koenig

ON TRACK FOR SPRING OPEN

Construction of innovative dairy processing plant moo-ving along smoothly

Oct 15, 2024 | 3:45 PM

An innovative dairy processing facility, Dairy Innovation West (DIW), coming to Lacombe County is expected to be up and running by the spring of 2025, and have notable impacts on Canada’s western dairy industry.

Using ultra filtration and reverse osmosis, raw milk from dairy farmers will be transported to the facility, where it will then be reduced to processed milk before being sent to cheese, butter, yogurt, and other producers. This is expected to reduce the number of transport trucks needed to get the milk to producers by half, saving the industry about $15 million in transportation costs and notably reducing emissions.

“It’s combining economic and environmental sustainability in one project. The fact that we’re doing it and it’s the first in Canada, there’s a lot of eyes watching, so who knows where this sort of thing will happen again,” said Henry Holtman, chair of DIW at an official project update on Oct. 15.

The $75 million facility sits on a nearly 15 acre plot, with an opening processing capacity of 300 million litres of raw milk per year planned, which is expandable to 450 million litres in the future.

Holtman added that so far, the project has been relatively on budget and on schedule, with construction still expected to be done in time for the facility to be open for use by this spring.

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“The level of communication that we have with our builder, and soon operator, have worked out really well, trying to understand and prevent little glitches in the future. I think that’s all part of the planning process,” he said, “we work to overplan so when you do operate you don’t get surprised by things. I think that work has been really, really exceptional.”

The project update included a tour of the facility, where Mike Cotter, managing director, and founder and owner of project manager Pacific Process, highlighted some of the critical design elements of the building.

A loading/unloading bay for dairy transport trucks. The milk is accessed through the top of the truck’s tank, requiring aerial platforms; the floor has an upward angle to shift the product to one end of the tank, making the unloading process faster and more effective. Additionally, there will be an attached lounge for drivers to use while their trucks are washed, weighed, and unloaded. (rdnewsNOW/Ashley Lavallee-Koenig)

Keeping the environment sanitary and the product free of bacteria are top priorities, and there are multiple features of the facility meant to address the concern, Cotter explained. For one, the processing equipment keeps the milk at cold temperatures, and keeps it contained throughout the entire process, so it is never openly exposed to the air.

Additionally, air filtration units keep debris and bacteria out, and allow the operators to put important parts of the plant under higher pressures as an added precaution.

The equipment also boasts a clean in place system, meaning that once a day, every day, operators can stop production and flush the system through with sanitizers without needing to take apart any equipment.

Large vats hold the sanitizing chemicals that will be used in the clean in place system to keep the pipes and pumps clean. (rdnewsNOW/Ashley Lavallee-Koenig)

Once it’s operating, DIW will add 19 permanent jobs to the region. Holtman said the hiring process has started for key roles such as a plant operator, as they need the employees ready before machinery starts up in the new year.

Although the plant is not expected to open for industry use until the spring, Holtman said that by January he hopes to begin the calibration and testing processes, first with water, then with milk, before DIW opens for customers.

As much equipment as possible is being installed aerially to minimize floor-level equipment and maximize available space. (rdnewsNOW/Ashley Lavallee-Koenig)

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