U.S. Fuel Pellet Projects Mean More than $2.4 Billion in Opportunities

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--While the U.S. hasn't embraced biomass-fired power plants as an alternative to fossil-fueled plants as much as it has wind and solar, the country has a strong industry for the production of wood fuel pellets. The U.S. boasts abundant forest resources, enabling the mass production of fuel pellets from both forest and agricultural residuals. Industrial Info is tracking more than $2.4 billion worth of projects involving fuel pellets production in the U.S., many of which are presently under construction.

One of the world's largest fuel-pellet producers, Enviva Incorporated (NYSE:EVA) (Bethesda, Maryland), is establishing what will be its largest production facility in Epes, Alabama. Construction kicked off in the summer of 2022, and upon completion, which is expected later this year, the facility will be able to process a mix of softwood and mill residuals into 700,000 metric tons of pellets annually. Production eventually could be increased to more than 1 million tons per year. According to news media, pellets produced at the Epes plant will be exported to international markets, primarily in Asia and Europe. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Alternative Fuels Project Database can click here for more details.

Enviva is planning another grassroot pellet plant near Bond, Mississippi, that will be able to produce up to 1 million metric tons of fuel pellets annually. Construction is expected to kick off this summer and take an estimated three years to complete. Pellets from the plant will be delivered about 70 miles to Pascagoula, Mississippi, where Enviva has an export terminal. Subscribers can learn more by viewing the project report as well as the plant profile for the Pascagoula terminal.

Both the Alabama and Mississippi projects face strong headwinds moving forward. Since late last year, Enviva has been in financial straits and has stated that it has already exhausted its $570 line of credit for the two projects. Enviva's financial woes are serious enough that the company has warned it may not be able to survive, causing many large customers of the company, primarily located abroad, to be concerned about procuring future pellet supplies.

One of the largest fuel pellets plants presently under construction is in Williams, California, about 60 miles northeast of Sacramento. Aymium Incorporated (Williams) kicked off construction of its brownfield plant in early 2023. When completed, the facility will be able to process biomass feedstock such as orchard trimmings and forest debris into up to 250,000 tons per year of biocarbon pellets. In a nod toward California's renewable energy endeavors, the facility will use self-generated biogas for process energy and could provide up to 10 megawatts of power to the power grid. The project is approaching completion. Subscribers can click here for more information.

Not all U.S.-manufactured fuel pellets will come from timber, and Delta Biofuel LLC (Rye, New York) will lead this charge when its pellet plant in Jeanerette, Louisiana, is completed early next year. Rather than wood products, the facility will process sugarcane bagasse from nearby sugar mills, including M.A. Patout & Sons Limited's mill (Jeanerette), also located in Jeanerette. When engineering, procurement and construction contractor Player Design Incorporated (PDI) (Presque Isle, Maine) completes the plant, the facility will be able to produce 340,000 metric tons per year of fuel pellets. Subscribers can click here for the project report and click here for the Patout sugar mill profile.

In 2023, Active Energy Group plc (London, England), which operates in association with PDI, replaced two steam explosion reactors and upgraded other equipment at its 35,000-ton-per-year pellet in Ashland, Maine. Upon completion of that project, Active Energy began an expansion project at the plant that will take production to 100,000 tons per year. While the facility originally was expected to be completed in the first half of this year, supply-chain issues have delayed initial production from the expanded plant until closer to the end of the year. Subscribers can click here for the project report.

Also worth commenting on in Ashland is a project to create, in a sense, giant fuel pellets from forestry products. MaineFlame (Ashland) will manufacture easy-to-ignite fire logs from left-over waste wood from logging the north Maine woods at its upcoming new plant in Ashland. Construction kicked off last summer, and upon completion, which is expected to occur in the coming months, the facility will be able to produce up to 30,000 metric tons of fire logs per year. Subscribers can learn more by viewing the project report.

Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Alternative Fuels Database can click here for reports for all of the project discussed in this article and click here for the related plant profiles.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).