Pinnacle signs pellet off-take contract with Japanese company

Pinnacle Renewable Holdings announced on 22 May that it has entered into a long-term, take-or-pay off-take contract with Hanwa, a large, diversified trading company in Japan. Pinnacle will supply 75,000 metric tonnes of industrial wood pellets to Hanwa each year from early 2022. The industrial wood pellets will be used by a biomass power generation plant in Japan.

"We are pleased to enter into this long-term relationship with Hanwa, as it continues to contribute to Japan's strong commitment to decarbonisation," said Robert McCurdy, chief executive of Pinnacle.

Earlier in 2018 the company signed a long-term, take-or-pay off-take contract with Ube Industries, a diversified Japanese conglomerate with annual revenues of approximately $6 billion (€5.1 billion). Pinnacle will supply 70,000 metric tons of industrial wood pellets per year to Ube beginning in late 2019.

The deal with Hanwa is Pinnacle’s fourth with a Japanese company in 2018 and brings its contracted backlog to $3.8 billion (over €3.2 billion). Demand for industrial wood pellets in Japan is supported by the government's feed-in tariff system.

In February the company completed its initial public offering, gathering $70 million (€60 million) from its sale of over six million common shares. According to Pinnacle, long-term take-or-pay contracts with utilities in Europe and Asia represent 102% of its production capacity through 2021 and nearly 83% of its production capacity through 2026.