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WOOD BIO WAS INFO BLITZ Atlanta conference covered all the bases. ATLANTA, Ga. wenty-eight speakers, 46 equipment exhibitor companies, and three university exhibitors participated in the sixth Wood Bioenergy Conference & Expo held March 10-11 at the Omni Hotel at CNN Center. Attendance, including speakers, exhibitor personnel, producers, consultants and academia, hit 200. The event was hosted by Wood Bioenergy magazine and Georgia Research Institute. In his talk Partnering for Growth, Scott Bax, chief operating officer of Pinnacle Renewable Energy, provided an overview of Pinnacle’s aggressive expansion into industrial wood pellets, notScott Bax ing its nine existing pellet production facilities in North America, and two others under construction—one in High Level, Alberta, Canada and the other in Demopolis, Ala. in the Southeast U.S. Several of these are partnership arrangements with wood products companies, including the new plant in Alberta with Tolko Industries and the new one in Demopolis with Westervelt and Two Rivers Lumber. Pinnacle, Westervelt and Two Rivers have a similar arrangement
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There was a lot said that was worth hearing about the state of the wood bioenergy industry.
for an existing plant in Aliceville, Ala. Bax said upon the completion of the two new plants, Pinnacle will have an annual production capacity of 2.83 million metric tons. Bax focused on Pinnacle’s approach to its partnerships, citing common goals, honesty and transparency, clear expectations, room to grow, “owning safety,” and the importance of leveraging each other’s strengths. Referring to the Westervelt and Two
Rivers partnership, Bax said all the parties share a strong common value of safety. Pinnacle entered that partnership in 2018 at the existing Aliceville pellet mill, which is in the middle of a $10 million capital expenditure program. The new Demopolis mill will produce 360,000 MTPA with production commissioning expected in the second quarter of 2021. The majority of the wood fiber will be delivered from the adjacent Two Rivers sawmill. Westervelt’s new sawmill under construction at Thomasville, Ala. will also provide fiber. The partnership with Tolko on the new 200,000 MTPY facility at High Level represents an expanded relationship, stemming from the two companies’ partnership at the Lavington, BC pellet mill that started production in late 2015 with a production capacity of 300,000 MTPA. “Discussions with strategic partners, existing and new, are ongoing,” Bax added.
HURRICANE MICHAEL
Forty-six equipment and technology companies exhibited at the Omni Hotel. 42
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Devon Dartnell, director, market analysis and research, Georgia Forestry Commission, spoke on Hurricane Michael’s Impact on the Forest Resource. He noted several things that worked in favor of the post-storm salvage effort, including that GFC organized an immediate meeting with mills, timber producers and the Florida Forest Service. He said wet storage capacity was added at some mills such as
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