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High Level Alberta

PHOTO: PORT OF TYNE

Port of Tyne invests $1.2 million in wood pellet handling

The Port of Tyne, one of the U.K.’s leading deep-sea ports and a major employer in the region, on Nov. 5 announced a $1.2 million investment in its wood pellet-handling operations. State-of-the-art equipment will be installed and a range of measures put in place to help combat dust emissions from the dry wood pellets it handles. The improvements at Port of Tyne include: DustBosses, which create a continuous water mist spray to prevent dust particles flying into the air; pyramid covers, which enclose the top sections on the eight cargo grabs; skirting on hoppers, which increase airflow and reduce dust emission; and a microfogging system at strategic points within the warehouse and on the ventilation units, making dust fall to the floor.

In 2021, the port will also be the only one in the U.K. to have a high-tech water spraying system, which will be installed at the end of the quay.

American Wood Fibers Inc. has selected Scotland County, North Carolina, for a new manufacturing site and will create 51 jobs. The company will invest $19.5 million to add new capabilities to a facility previously operated by Nature’s Earth Pellets in Laurinburg.

AWF owns and operates 10 production facilities across the U.S., processing over one billion pounds of wood byproducts into animal bedding, pet litter, wood pellets and wood fibers. In Laurinburg, the company will produce wood pellets for fuel, bedding and barbeque markets, installing new equipment to improve the safety, pollution control and overall capacity of the plant. A performance-based grant of $100,000 from the One North Carolina Fund will help facilitate AWF’s expansion in Scotland County.

Pinnacle begins production at High Level mill

Pinnacle Renewable Energy announced on Dec. 8 it has commenced initial pellet production at its newly constructed facility in High Level, Alberta, which is owned 50% by Pinnacle and 50% by Tolko Industries Ltd. through a limited partnership.

The High Level mill further diversifies Pinnacle's supply base using high-quality wood fiber sourced primarily from Tolko's sawmill in High Level. The mill has a projected run-rate capacity of 200,000 metric tons per year. Production will be sold through Pinnacle's contracted backlog of long-term, take-or-pay off-take contracts. Pinnacle is gradually ramping up production at the mill and

American Wood Fibers buys former Nature’s Earth Pellets plant

expects to reach full production in 2021.

Anaergia begins construction of California RNG project

Anaergia Services LLC and veteran impact investing firm North Sky Capital LLC announced the start of construction of a renewable natural gas (RNG) facility at the Victor Valley Wastewater Reclamation Authority, located in San Bernardino County, California. The project will utilize Anaergia’s Omnivore high-solids anaerobic digestion retrofit to triple capacity and increase redundancy of the existing digester infrastructure. Sludge and food waste will be digested to generate biogas that will be conditioned and upgraded into pipeline-quality RNG, utilizing systems designed and supplied by Anaergia affiliates. Anaergia will operate the gas upgrading facility.

Brightmark breaks ground on Sobek RNG project in Florida

Brightmark, a global waste solutions provider, broke ground on the Sobek renewable natural gas (RNG) project on Nov. 13. The project includes construction of new anaerobic digesters at two Larson family dairy farms in Okeechobee County, Florida, owned by Larson Dairy Inc. and JM Larson Inc.

Upon completion of the project, the digesters are anticipated to generate about 171,000 MMBtu of RNG annually. The gas will be delivered into the TECO People Gas pipeline system. The project is part of the recently announced joint venture, Brightmark RNG Holdings LLC, a Brightmark platform in partnership with Chevron U.S.A. Inc.

Brightmark developed the project, and through the joint venture with Chevron, will own and operate it when construction is complete in 2021.

CPS Energy, VIA announce RNG partnership

CPS Energy and the VIA Metropolitan Transit serving San Antonio, Texas, and surrounding municipalities announced a new fuel supply partnership that will provide renewable natural gas to VIA’s fleet of over 500 buses, beginning in 2021. The announcement highlights CPS Energy’s partnership with the region’s mobility provider to supply renewable fuel for use in its compressed natural gas (CNG) fleet. VIA has a diversified active fleet portfolio consisting of 502 buses powered primarily by CNG fuel, with some diesel-electric hybrid, electric, diesel and propane vehicles in use.

PHOTO: PINE BLUFF FACILITY

Highland closes capital partnership with Orion Energy

Highland Pellets LLC has announced a $135 million strategic capital partnership with Orion Energy Partners L.P. to fund the expansion and upgrade of its existing wood pellet facility in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, as well as provide capital for additional long-term growth initiatives. The facility is supported by a long-term contract with a major European power producer and will be capable of producing up to 675,000 metric tons of wood pellets per year when complete.

The Highland facility was initially completed in 2017 and is currently undergoing equipment upgrades to improve operational performance and increase production capacity.

Drax to sell gas assets, use proceeds on biomass initiatives

Drax Group plc reported on Dec. 15 that it has reached an agreement to sell its natural gas-fueled power generation assets. The company said it will use the proceeds from the sale to develop its biomass supply chain and support its plans to become carbon negative by 2030 with a focus on biomass carbon capture and storage (BECCS). CEO Will Gardiner said by using BECCS at the power station in North Yorkshire to underpin the decarbonization of the wider Humber region, Drax believes it would create and support around 50,000 new jobs.

PHOTO: DOMINION-SMITHFIELD

Dominion Energy, Smithfield Foods complete RNG project in Utah

Dominion Energy and Smithfield Foods Inc., announced on Dec. 9 they have completed the first renewable natural gas (RNG) project through their joint venture, Align Renewable Natural Gas. Located in Milford in southwestern Utah, the project is now producing RNG from a network of 26 family farms that raise hogs under contract with Smithfield.

The project is the first large-scale effort in the state to capture methane from hog farming operations and convert it into clean energy for homes, businesses and transportation. At full capacity, the project will produce enough RNG to heat more than 3,000 homes and businesses and reduce annual emissions from participating farms by more than 100,000 metric tons. In the largest venture of its kind in the U.S., Dominion and Smithfield are jointly investing $500 million over the next 10 years to develop RNG projects across the country.

The $900 billion COVID-19 relief package passed by Congress on Dec. 21 includes provisions of the Biomass Thermal Utilization Act and will enact a three-year investment tax credit (ITC) for high-efficiency home heating equipment that fires wood pellets chips or cordwood.

Language for the ITC is contained on page 2,448 of the nearly 5,600-page bill. The credit applies to the installed cost of home heating and hot water systems that utilize wood pellets, chips and cordwood at efficiencies greater than 75 percent. The ITC is for 26 percent in 2021 and phases down to 22 percent in 2022 and 2023.

PHOTO: IDEMITSU KOSAN CO. LTD

Idemitsu breaks ground on 50-MW biomass plant in Japan

Japanese energy company Idemitsu Kosan Co. Ltd. held a Nov. 30 groundbreaking ceremony for its 50-MW Tokuyama biomass plant, a facility under development in Shunan City, Yamaguchi Prefecture.

The plant is scheduled to be complete in June 2022 and begin commercial operations by December 2022. It will be fueled with imported wood pellets and palm kernel shells, requiring approximately 230,000 metric tons of fuel annually. The project is being developed at a former refinery site and will use existing infrastruc-

BTU Act provisions pass

ture.

PHOTO: KODA ENERGY

Rahr becomes sole owner of Koda Energy

Effective Dec. 4, Rahr Corp. purchased the outstanding 51% of Koda Energy LLC from the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, making the combined-heat-and-power plant a wholly owned subsidiary of Rahr.

Located on Rahr’s Shakopee, Minnesota, site, Koda Energy generates electricity and heat utilizing agricultural, forestry and biomaterial byproducts, replacing Rahr’s use of natural gas.

IEA predicts growth in bioenergy use for heat, power

Global biomass electricity production capacity expanded by 8.5 gigawatts (GW) in 2019, the second-highest level of annual addition on record, according to the International Energy Agency’s Renewables 2020 report released in early November.

China accounted for 60% of the new biomass power capacity installed last year, the majority of which came from energy-from-waste projects. Japan, the next largest market, was onetenth the size of the Chinese market.

The IEA forecasts a 16% decline of bioenergy capacity additions this year. According to the agency, 10 nations account for 90% of new capacity last year. Of those countries, China, Brazil, Japan and the U.K. have been most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, potential exists for some project delivery delays, the IEA said. Despite the pandemic, there have been no widespread supply disruptions observed for biomass fuels, such as wood chips and wood pellets.

The IEA predicts annual bioenergy capacity additions to range from 5-6 GW per year over its short-term forecast period, through 2025.

As for bioenergy for renewable heating, it accounted for nearly 90% of renewable heat consumption last year, including indirect consumption via district heat networks. The agency said it was used predominately in industries that produce biomass waste and residues. Bioenergy for heat is expected to increase by 10% of the 2019 level by 2025, with India and China expected to be responsible for more than half of that growth.

Protos Energy Recovery Facility moves into construction

Covanta Holding Corp., Green Investment Group Ltd. and Biffa plc reported the financial close and commencement of construction on the 49-MW Protos Energy Recovery Facility in Cheshire, England. Covanta and GIG will each own 37.5% of the state-of-the-art energy-from-waste facility, with Biffa, the primary waste supplier for the facility, owning the remaining 25% of the project. The facility will provide up to 400,000 metric tons of annual treatment capacity for nonrecyclable waste.

IMAGE: COVANTA HOLDING CORP.

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