German Pellets doubles production capacity at its Louisiana production plant
Wood pellet manufacturer German Pellets is ramping up capacity at its Urania production plant in Louisiana, from 578,000 tonnes to over 1 million tonnes a year.
The commissioning of the first construction phase is complete and work on phase two has now started. The financing for the capacity increase of the plant has been raised in full.
'We are delighted at the fast realisation of the expansion of our second plant in the US and, hence, the increased production,' says Peter Leibold, managing partner at German Pellets.
It is predicted that global pellet consumption is set to rise from 25 million tonnes in 2014 to 29 million tonnes by the end of this year. German Pellets says it intends to keep on growing in this market environment – aided by the desire of both society and politicians for climate-friendly, fixed-price energy whose supply is secure.
'Pushing ahead with our internationalisation strategy, including by means of the increase in capacity at the plant in Urania, is therefore a logical step,' Leibold continues.
German Pellets Group's port complex in Port Arthur, Texas will be used to handle the plant's increased production volumes. The first ship is currently being loaded with wood pellets from the Urania facility. In 2013, German Pellets built a loading facility with a capacity of 75,000 tonnes of wood pellets and which can handle large ships up to Panamax size (60,000-70,000 tonnes) in the deepwater port on the Gulf of Mexico.
The construction works both above and below ground for the second construction phase are on-going. Machinery parts and plant parts are currently being manufactured. Upon completion of the plant, German Pellets will have an annual production capacity of around 1.7 million tonnes of wood pellets in the US. These volumes will be exported to Europe.
Upon commissioning of the first construction phase, the certification of the plant in accordance with the PEFC Chain of Custody sustainability was also launched.
