Pellets News

A new £100 million (€140 million) biomass terminal planned for the Port of Liverpool will see it handle up to 3 million tonnes of wood pellets a year as part of the decarbonisation of Drax power station. The wood pellets – to be shipped to Liverpool from North America – are a by-product of the commercial forestry and saw-milling industry and will provide the Selby-based…
Read More »

Pinnacle Renewable Energy has announced the first full loading of wood pellets into a Panamax class vessel. This world first took place at the company's Westview Terminal in Prince Rupert, British Columbia, Canada, on 2 June 2015. It will be the largest load of wood pellets ever shipped anywhere in the history of the industry. Panamax vessels are purpose-built to utilise the maximum capacity of…
Read More »

PHI Group, a US public company engaged in energy and natural resources, has filed a form D with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a $60 million (€55 million) private placement under the auspices of Rule 506(c) of Regulation D for accredited and institutional investors. The placement has been structured by offering 40 million investment units at the price of $1.50 per unit, each…
Read More »

US-headquartered wood pellet manufacturer Enviva Partners has closed its initial public offering of 11,500,000 common units representing limited partner interests at $20 (€18) per common unit. The number of common units issued at closing included 1,500,000 common units that were issued pursuant to the full exercise of the underwriters' option to purchase additional common units. The common…
Read More »

AEK AG, a Swiss wood pellet manufacturer and subsidiary of energy provider AEK Energie, has started building a biomass drying facility at its pellet production site in Balsthal, Switzerland. The new facility, which will cost a total of 9 million Swiss Francs (€8.5 million), will dry the raw biomass material before it is used to produce wood pellets. In a statement, AEK said: 'Dry raw…
Read More »

The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) has reported that, in 2014, almost 75% of all US wood pellet exports were delivered to the UK, mainly for the purpose of generating electricity. Overall, US wood pellet exports increased by nearly 40% between 2013 and 2014, from 3.2 million tonnes to 4.4 million tonnes, as the US continues to be the largest wood pellet exporter in the world. Canada,…
Read More »

Drax's biomass pellet storage, handling and loading facilities at the Port of Greater Baton Rouge are now complete and receiving pellets daily. The first biomass pellets to pass through the facility have now been loaded onto the MV TBC Princess. This first vessel, which arrived on 19 April, forms part of the commissioning process, enabling Drax to test its ship loading equipment. Drax Biomass…
Read More »

The Sustainable Biomass Partnership (SBP) has announced the appointment of Julia Marton-Lefèvre as the chairman of the new board being established to provide advice to the SBP. Marton-Lefèvre has been prominent in the scientific and environmental community and has recently stepped down as director general of IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) following eight…
Read More »

Idaho, US-based Centennial Renewable Energy (CRE) has signed agreements to purchase land for its first wood pellet project in the state and is now commencing engineering design with its lead design build contractor Dome Technology. CRE is building a 160,000 tonne per year wood pellet plant in the heart of the Idaho wood basket to produce pellets to the ENplus A2 standard. Following the completion…
Read More »

Inspection company USFGIS and Twin Ports Testing have signed a strategic agreement to jointly enter the biomass market. Jane Vogt, USFGIS VP, says: 'By combining the strengths of both companies we create a single source solution for inspection and testing services to the biomass industry in a highly efficient way.' Twin Ports Testing has been involved in the wood pellet industry since the early…
Read More »

Scotia Atlantic Biomass, a wholly owned subsidiary of Viridis Energy, has received a working capital loan of $2 million (€1.9 million) from Cornwall Investments, which will be used to procure Nova Scotia wood fibre for the production of its industrial pellets. The loan is secured by inventory in the form of a demand note with interest calculated daily and compounded monthly at the rate of…
Read More »

The Wood Pellet Association of Canada (WPAC) has announced the resignation of Brad Bennett as president and director. Michele Rebiere will succeed Bennett and president and director. Rene Landry has been appointed VP and director, and Wayne Young appointed as director. Bennett is said to have stepped down for 'personal reasons'. The WPAC board of directors thanks Bennett for his service and…
Read More »

Drax has acquired Billington Bioenergy (BBE), the UK's second largest wood pellet distributor. The move signals the power generator's intention to enter the country's growing biomass heat sector. Drax is now the UK's largest renewable power generator by replacing much of its coal capacity with biomass, and is also a world leader in sourcing sustainable biomass through Drax Biomass and supplying…
Read More »

Viridis Merchants (VM), an aggregation and trading service of wood pellets and wholly owned subsidiary of wood pellet manufacturer Viridis Energy, has secured a contract with an existing supplier, for exclusive distribution of up to 18,000 tonnes of 100% Douglas fir pellets. The contract value is over C$6 million (€4.4 million) during 2015. VM launched its Okanagan Pellet Douglas Fir brand…
Read More »