Enviva forms partnership to develop wood pellet projects in US

Enviva Holdings and John Hancock Life Insurance Company have partnered to develop industrial wood pellet production plants and marine export terminals in the southeastern US.

Through their affiliates, Enviva Development Holdings, (Enviva) and Hancock Natural Resource Group (HNRG), the companies have committed to invest up to an aggregate of $320 million (€258 million) in equity capital in joint venture company Enviva Wilmington Holdings (EWH).
This joint venture plans to construct an industrial wood pellet production plant in Sampson County, North Carolina, a marine export terminal at the Port of Wilmington, North Carolina, and potentially other wood pellet plants and marine terminals in the southeastern US.

Enviva will serve as the managing member and operator of the joint venture, which expects to commence construction of the Sampson plant and Wilmington terminal by the end of 2014.

Wood pellet production from the Sampson plant will be exported through the Wilmington terminal under long-term contracts with major European power generators. EWH's customers are replacing coal with wood pellets to improve the environmental profile of energy generation.

Enviva's affiliates currently own and operate five wood pellet production plants throughout the southeastern US and export its product through terminals in Chesapeake, Virginia and Mobile, Alabama. The joint venture's projects are expected to complement this existing operating footprint.