NEWS ROUNDUP

Pellet News Roundup

The European Union consumed a record 23.1 million metric tons (MT) of wood pellets in 2021, according to a new report filed with the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service Global Agricultural Information Network. Demand is expected to expand to 24.3 million MT this year. The report primarily attributes the record-breaking 2021 consumption to increased residential use in Germany and cofiring of wood pellets with coal in the Netherlands. Increased consumption this year is expected to result from the expansion of EU residential markets, mainly in Germany and France, boosted by support programs for the installation of biomass boilers and the high price of fossil fuels. The report notes that EU demand for pellets has significantly outpaced domestic production for the past 10 years, resulting in increased imports from Russia, the U.S., Belarus and Ukraine. The EU, however, in April 2022 banned the import of Russian wood pellets in response to the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

Drax Group plc experienced significant increases in both operating profit and wood pellet production when compared to the same six-month period of 2021, according to the company’s financial and operational results for the first half of 2022. Drax produced approximately 2 million metric tons (MT) of wood pellets during the first half of this year and shipped 2.4 million MT. The company produced and shipped 1.3 million MT of pellets during the same period of 2021. An estimated 1 million MT of wood pellets were sold to third parties during the first half of 2022, up from 400,000 MT during the same period of last year.

Drax also recently announced the expansion of its operations into Japan. To celebrate the launch of Drax Asia and the opening of a new office in Japan, more than 160 that included government officials, major trading houses, energy businesses and shipping companies, attended a reception at the British Ambassador’s residence in Tokyo.

Blackwood Technology B.V. and TTCL Public Company Ltd. reported the inauguration of a torrefaction demonstration plant in the Lampang province of Thailand. The demo plant is using Blackwood’s proprietary FlashTor torrefaction technology to turn low-grade plant biomass into a torrefied pellets, black pellets or biocoal, according to the companies. Beyond the successful launch of the demo plant, Blackwood and TTCL state they have started engineering work for a commercial-scale FlashTor torrefaction plant in Thailand. The partners plan to roll out more plants in Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries.

Ecostrat Inc. announced that Airex Energy has joined the BDO Zone Strategic Alliance as a partner in the technology group. Ecostrat describes its BDO Zone Strategic Alliance Partners as some of the leading companies in the bioenergy industry that help de-risk biobased project development in BDO Zones. Airex Energy’s biomass carbonization systems enable large-scale production of biocoal pellets and biochar, according to the company, via its proprietary CarbonFX technology. Airex Energy has operated an industrial-scale biocarbon plant in Canada since 2016. The plant, in operation 24/7, is located in Bécancour, Québec.

The U.S. EIA has released the July edition of its U.S. Monthly Densified Biomass Fuel Report, which contains data for April from 80 operating manufacturers. These fuel pellet producers had a total production capacity of 13.27 million tons per year and collectively had an equivalent of 2,463 full-time employees. In April 2022, monthly respondents purchased 1.72 million tons of raw biomass feedstock, compared to 770,000 tons in April 2021. Manufacturers produced 850,000 tons of densified biomass fuel, and sold 680,000 tons of densified biomass fuel. Domestic sales of densified biomass fuel in April 2022 were 80,000 tons and averaged $200.34 per ton, compared to 110,000 tons sold at $184.19 per ton in 2021. Exports in April 2022 were 600,000 tons and averaged $160.83 per ton, compared to 580,000 tons averaging $177.52 in April 2021.

The U.S. exported 832,092.2 metric tons (MT) of wood pellets in June, up from both 740,605 MT in May and 603,794.9 MT in June 2021, according to data released by the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service on Aug. 4. The U.S. exported wood pellets to more than a dozen countries in June. The U.K. was the top destination for U.S. wood pellets at 518,904.3 MT, followed by the Netherlands at 249,065 MT and the French West Indies at 36,019.5 MT. The value of U.S. wood pellet exports reached $141.32 million in June, up from both $131.78 million the previous month and $82.97 million in June of last year.

PHOTO: ASNAES POWER STATION/ ØRSTED

Denmark-based energy company Orsted A/S plans to establish carbon capture at two of its biomass-fired power stations and utilize surplus heat to reduce the long-term consumption of wood pellets for district heating. According to the July 5 announcement, the company plans to establish carbon capture at its Avedore Power station’s straw-fired boiler and at its Asnaes Power Station. The Avedore facility, located near Copenhagen, is primarily fueled with wood pellets and straw and has the capacity to generate 806 MW of heat and 953 megajoules per second (MJ/s) of heat. The Asnaes facility is located in Kalundborg, Denmark. It is primarily fueled with wood chips and has the capacity to produce 26 MW of electricity and 125 MJ/s of heat. If implemented, planned carbon capture and storage and green fuels projects would create large amounts of surplus heat that can be utilized by the district heating system served by the Avedore Power Station. Use of the surplus heat would reduce the long-term demand for wood pellet heating fuel, according to Orsted.