Louisiana Boasts Nearly $740 Million in Planned Pellet Mill Projects

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Louisiana has been long known for abundant oil and gas production, refining and power generation, but now it could emerge as a top energy pellet producer.

Currently, there are five major pellet mill projects in Louisiana, representing nearly $740 million in capital spending through late 2016. Two projects in Morehouse and Natchitoches parishes already have broken ground.

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Morehouse BioEnergy, a subsidiary of Drax Biomass International (Burlington, Massachusetts), began construction on a $120 million plant in Bastrop earlier this year. The plant is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2015.

Biomass Power Louisiana LLC, a subsidiary of Biomass Secure Power Incorporated (Abbotsford, British Columbia), has broken ground on a 1 million-ton-per-year pellet mill in Natchitoches, Louisiana. GEC Incorporated (Baton Rouge, Louisiana) is handing engineering work for the estimated $137 million project. Completion is expected by early January 2016.

NFR BioEnergy LLC (White Castle, Louisiana) has started permitting for the first of 10 pellet mills, which are planned to be co-located at various sugar mills in Louisiana that will convert sugar bagasse into fuel pellets. The first mill will be located at the Cora Texas Manufacturing Company site in White Castle.

Louisiana Pellets Incorporated, a subsidiary of German Pellets GmbH (Wismar, Germany), is constructing a large, 500,000-ton-per-year pellet mill in Urania, Louisiana. Completion of the estimated $350 million plant is expected by mid-2015.

Another start-up is Hinterland LLC (Woodville, Mississippi). A kickoff date for the proposed pellet mill project has yet to be confirmed. It would be built in Vidalia, Louisiana.

The majority of the pellets produced in Louisiana are bound for European markets. U.S. pellet exports nearly doubled last year to 3.2 million short tons and were shipped mostly to Europe, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

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