AEK AG breaks ground on biomass drying facility in Switzerland

AEK AG, a Swiss wood pellet manufacturer and subsidiary of energy provider AEK Energie, has started building a biomass drying facility at its pellet production site in Balsthal, Switzerland.

The new facility, which will cost a total of 9 million Swiss Francs (€8.5 million), will dry the raw biomass material before it is used to produce wood pellets.

In a statement, AEK said: 'Dry raw material is not readily available. Today, we dry the damp raw material using natural gas but the future is in the combustion of wood.'

A ground breaking ceremony was held on 20 April.