Pellets News

Enviva Holdings, a US wood pellet producer, has announced the recipients of its 2016 forest conversation grants. The firm runs the Enviva Forest Conservation Fund - a $5 million, 10-year program designed to protect tens of thousands of acres of bottomland forests in northeast North Carolina and southeast Virginia. “We are very pleased to be working with our friends at The Nature…
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Michele Rebiere, the president of the Wood Pellet Association of Canada (WPAC), is stepping down after just over a year in the position. In a press statement, the organisation said that Rebiere expressed the need to focus on her role as chief financial officer of Viridis Energy as the company pursues the sale of its business.   In a statement, WPAC said: “WPAC’s Board is…
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North American overseas pellet exports increased for the third consecutive quarter in the Q4 2015, rising 7% from the previous quarter to just over 1.54 million tonnes, according to the North American Wood Fiber Review (NAWFR). The total for the year was 55.3 million tonnes, which was 2% higher than in 2014 and almost four times as much as in 2010. In the Q4 2015, total Canadian pellet overseas…
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Canada-based wood pellet producer Viridis Energy is up for sale. The company had earlier failed to meet a lender's deadline to pay debts owed by one of its subsidiaries. Viridis appointed US biomass industry consultancy FutureMetrics as the sales representative of the company and its three subsidiaries. In a statement, FutureMetrics said that the company will either be sold entirely through a…
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Finnish technology firm Valmet will supply a wood pellet heating plant to electricity firm Helen Oy's Salmisaari power plant. The wood pellet plant will enable Helen to increase the use of bio fuels in district heat production in Helsinki. The new plant helps the city of Helsinki to meet its aim of increasing its production of renewable energy. The start-up of the heating plant is expected to…
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The global biomass pellet market is expected to grow with a CAGR of 11.1% until 2020, according to a recent market study. According to research by Research & Markets, as US-based market watchdog, the increasing use of biomass pellets in power industry is propelling the growth of the global biomass pellet market. The growing demand for renewable energy sources is one of the important factors,…
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Viridis Energy has ceased operations at its Okanagan Pellet Co. (OPC) plant due to recent structural concerns and a combination of other factors. According to the company, despite substantial upgrades over the past 10 months, addressing additional requirements from local authorities regarding dust management, together with the recently discovered structural challenges of the building, would…
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Tennessee, US-based Astec Industries has received a $122.5 million (€108.3m) order to supply equipment for a Highland Pellets pellet plant, along with a related deposit on the order. Astec previously announced receipt of the initial $30 million order on August 20, 2015. The company plans to build and deliver the equipment in the additional order during 2016 and will discuss the details…
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Amec Foster Wheeler, a UK engineering company, has been awarded a contract to supply a biomass dust combustion plant for Finnish utility company Seinäjoen Energia. The plant will be operated as back-up for a peak load district heating plant and increase capacity to 120MWth. Heavy fuel oil combustion will be replaced with biomass based fuels, including wood pellets, wood briquette, bark and…
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The global biomass pellet market was valued at $6.9 billion (€6.17bn) in 2014 and it is expected to grow with a CAGR of 11.1% during the 2015-2020 period, a study published by P&S Market Research says. The increased level of investments in the biomass industry has propelled the technological advancement, and there has been a recent upsurge worldwide in co-firing of…
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Rentech, a Los Angeles-based wood pellet manufacturer, has provided an update on the progress of its Canadian pellet operations as part of the company's fourth quarter and full year financial results report. Keith Forman, CEO of Rentech, said: "We shipped approximately 48,000 tonnes of pellets to Drax in the first quarter of this year, produced from the Wawa and Atikokan plants [based in…
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Germany's energy wood and pellet sector had a difficult year in 2015 as falling oil and gas prices impacted on investment, according to a report by the Germany Energy Wood and Pellet Association (DEPV). In its annual report entitled Pellet market 2015 and Forecast 2016, the industry association said the "massive drop" in oil prices has "hampered" the pellet trade with only around 16,000 boilers…
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The European Commission (EC) has opened a formal investigation procedure related to the planned UK subsidy contract for a 645MW biomass-fired power unit of Drax. Drax is working to convert to biomass three of the six coal-powered generators at the Drax Power Station in North Yorkshire. The third unit is planned to receive a Contract for Difference (CfD), which means the UK government will…
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Enviva Holdings, one of the world’s largest wood pellet producers, is establishing the Enviva Forest Conservation Fund. The $5 million (€4.6m), 10-year programme is designed to protect tens of thousands of acres of bottomland forests in northeast North Carolina and southeast Virginia in the US. The Enviva Forest Conservation Fund (EFCF), administered by the US Endowment for Forestry…
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