Pellets News

Enviva has reported strong quarterly results and shared an update on its plant expansion projects in the US South. The company reported a net revenue of $285 million (€239 million) in Q2 2021, a 70% increase compared to the same period in 2020. With the commissioning and expansion of pellet facilities in the US underway, Enviva’s chairman and CEO, John Keppler, said the firm is…
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Drax Group has cut the carbon emissions from its power generation by over 90% in less than a decade, the company reported in its half-year results. With this reduction, Drax has become one of Europe’s lowest-carbon intensity power generators, moving it closer to achieving its ambition to be carbon negative by 2030. Formerly the largest coal power station in Western Europe, Drax has this…
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Following the opening of Fonterra’s wood pellet boiler at its Te Awamutu site, the dairy cooperative revealed plans to convert another of its sites from coal to biomass. Fonterra, a multinational dairy cooperative based in New Zealand, officially opened Te Awamutu’s pellet boiler facility with the Minister for Energy and Resources, Dr Megan Woods. At the same time, plans were revealed to…
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Network Rail has started essential work on a £2.1 million (€2.4 million) project to repair a bridge in North Yorkshire, UK, used by Drax. The track over Aire Bridge is used exclusively by freight services travelling to and from Drax Power Station, which supplies around 11% of the UK’s renewable electricity, and must be replaced so that services can continue to run reliably. Network…
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A recent forest enhancement project utilising wood waste in north-eastern British Columbia (BC) for renewable energy generation has been hailed as a success. The Forest Enhancement Society of BC (FESBC) provided $299,759 (€202,500) in funding to a partnership project led by Duz Cho Logging of the McLeod Lake Indian Band and Canfor Energy North. Although the project is now coming to an end,…
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The US Industrial Pellet Association (USIPA) said it is ‘deeply disappointed’ by CNN’s portrayal of the biomass industry. Its criticism follows a report by CNN that allegedly portrayed the scientific community as being ‘in uniform opposition’ to biomass, citing a number of critical academics. However, it excluded assessments by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change…
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AVG Group Sarl (AVG), a climate change investment firm based in Norway, has invested $2.9 million (€2.4 million) in pellet manufacturer Arbaflame. Arbaflame has developed a unique pellet using bio-feedstock (sawdust) that can supplement or replace coal in boilers and power plants. The pellets allows coal plant operators to continue power production more sustainably and keep employees working…
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Drax Group has chosen Biomass Engineering & Equipment (BE&E) to supply material handling, layout engineering, and mechanical installation for its three new pellet plants in Arkansas, US. The systems BE&E will manufacture for the projects include bulk receiving bins, disc screeners, SMART Conveyors, SMART Containers, and covered pellet load-out stations. BE&E’s scope also…
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Drax has agreed to acquire a 20% minority interest in Alabama Pellets, the joint venture (JV) which owns the Demopolis and Aliceville pellet plants, increasing its total interest in the firm to 90%. Drax will acquire the stake from The Westervelt Company for $29.7 million (€25 million) cash consideration. The move, expected to be completed in July, will increase its interest in Alabama…
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Delta Biofuel has shared proposals for a $70 million (€58.8 million) biomass fuel pellet facility in Louisiana, US. Governor John Bel Edwards and Delta Biofuel’s CEO Philip Keating announced that the company is evaluating Iberia Parish in Louisiana for the planned renewable fuel plant. The facility would produce biomass fuel pellet made from residual sugarcane fibre, known as…
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Dutch wood pellet imports reached a new high in 2020, totalling $511 million (€427 million), or 2.76 million metric tons (MMT). Figures released by the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Foreign Agricultural Service on 26 April showed the US was the leading non-EU supplier of pellets to the Netherlands in 2020. The report shows the current share of bioenergy generated by…
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Woodsure, the UK quality assurance certification scheme for woodfuel, will take over the running of the government’s Biomass Suppliers List (BSL), on behalf of the Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). The BSL is a list of woodfuel that meets the eligibility requirements for the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme. It allows RHI participants to demonstrate to…
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US Senators have written to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) urging the Biden Administration to support the biomass industry. In a bipartisan letter to EPA Administrator Michael Regan, Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Susan Collins, among others, call for the US Government to address ‘languishing applications’ under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) programme, including moving forward…
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Wood pellets and chips result in a 65-100%+ reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions compared to heating oil, according to the Biomass Thermal Energy Council (BTEC). The figures were highlighted in a study by the BTEC and Life Cycle Associates titled ‘Life Cycle Analysis of Renewable Fuel Standard Implementation for Thermal Pathways for Wood Pellets and Chips’. The 65-100+ reduction…
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