US port of Baton Rouge closed ahead of storms

: Biomass
20/08/24

Port authorities have closed the US wood pellet export port of Baton Rouge, Louisiana owing to tropical storms Marco and Laura — currently in the Gulf of Mexico and over Cuba respectively.

Tropical storm Marco, which has been downgraded from a hurricane, is causing heavy rainfall and strong winds along parts of the US Gulf coast, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said. Tropical storm Laura "is forecast to strengthen over the Gulf of Mexico and there is an increasing risk of dangerous storm surge, wind, and rainfall impacts along portions of the US Gulf coast by the middle of the week", the NHC said, although forecast details remain uncertain.

The US pellet export ports of Mobile, Alabama and Panama City, Florida are under port condition X-Ray, meaning gale force winds are expected within 48 hours.

Pellet producer Drax Biomass, a subsidiary of UK utility Drax, exports pellets from Baton Rouge. US wood pellet producers Highland Pellets and Westervelt and Canadian producer Pinnacle export from the port of Mobile. US producer Enviva ships out of Panama City.

By Georgia Gratton

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25/03/04

Adidas to double Asian biomass consumption in 2025

Singapore, 4 March (Argus) — Major German sportswear manufacturer Adidas expects its industrial biomass consumption in Asia to double to around 1mn t/yr in 2025 from about 500,000t/yr in 2024. This is based on estimated biomass energy consumption figures by 50 partner factories owned by its Asian suppliers, according to Adidas' director of climate and energy, Dipjay Sanchania, who was speaking at a panel discussion during the Argus Biomass Asia conference held in Singapore over 25-26 February. The factories use biomass from agricultural residue, including rice husk pellets and palm kernel shells, for power generation. Most of Adidas' partner biomass-consuming factories are in Vietnam, followed by Indonesia, Cambodia, Thailand and Pakistan, he said. The biomass energy is generated to power localised electric boilers, moving away from centralised large coal-fired boilers typically used for heating, according to Sanchania. The heat is required to produce steam, which is used to add chemicals and dyes onto fabrics. Adidas' suppliers had already phased out coal-fired boilers by the end of 2023, when more than 48 boilers were replaced or modified to use biomass or natural gas fuels. The firm is on track to phase out coal use in its supply chain by the end of this year. Retail company Nike is also using biomass to replace the use of coal in its supply chain. Total energy consumption of the company's partner factories was at around 6,000 GWh/yr, according to Nike's renewable energy director Sasank Goli, who was at the same panel discussion. He said around 50pc of that energy is biomass-fired, with 25pc from natural gas and the remaining 25pc from "thermal power", which likely refers to coal. One of the ways he had procured biomass was through a joint tender with several other factories. But he had difficulty trying to secure long-term agreements with biomass suppliers at fixed prices, because there was uncertainty of future prices in the market. "Biomass vendors did not have certainty as to how much future demand would be there," said Goli. By Nadhir Mokhtar Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Brazilian wood pellet exports rise in January

25/02/24

Brazilian wood pellet exports rise in January

London, 24 February (Argus) — Brazilian wood pellet exports rose on the year in January, driven by higher shipments to northwest Europe amid stronger biomass-fired generation. Loadings picked up by 9,000t on the year to 40,000t, but were some way below the 2021-23 average for the month ( see table ). Exports to northwest Europe increased on the year and made up almost two-thirds of total shipments. Exports to Belgium jumped to 19,000t in January from 1,000t a year earlier, the largest amount shipped from Brazil to the country in a single month. Total biomass-fired output in northwest Europe rose to 4.5GW on an average hourly basis in January from 4GW a year earlier, fuelling demand for wood pellets. Loadings to the UK and the Netherlands rose, but exports to the UK were significantly below the historical average for the month. Brazilian loadings to the UK also fell sharply throughout 2024. The country traditionally supplied the UK with pellets — probably for residential consumption — on a long-term contract basis. But congestion at Brazilian ports from mid-2024 probably pressured exports. Loadings to Italy halved in January on the year, as Italian buyers did not place orders for the winter season until early December 2024, which would result in shipments being delivered around two months later because of delays at ports. In February this year, Brazil exported 17,000t of pellets to Denmark, according to Kpler data, which would already be above Brazil's overall shipments to the Nordic country during the same month in 2024. Denmark has recently become a main destination for Brazilian pellets. The country is becoming an increasingly important supplier of wood pellets to Europe. And at least four new Brazil producers have obtained their ENplus A1-grade pellet certification, with combined capacity of 255,000 t/yr, and are looking for clients in Europe. By Alejandro Moreano Brazilian wood pellet exports '000t Jan-25 Jan-24 Jan 2021-23 avg. Full year 2024 Full year 2023 Full year 2020-22 avg. Belgium 19.3 0.8 11.4 28.8 36.2 3.6 Italy 15.9 28.2 12.3 300.6 325.0 187.6 UK 1.8 0.0 49.6 50.6 146.7 184.3 Netherlands 1.2 0.0 0.0 2.2 0.2 14.9 Denmark 0.8 0.5 0.0 98.5 1.5 0.1 Other 0.5 0.8 0.3 9.6 57.8 6.2 Total 39.5 30.3 49.4 490.2 567.3 396.7 — customs data Brazilian wood pellet exports '000t Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Japan’s Erex cuts biomass-fired power output in January

25/02/14

Japan’s Erex cuts biomass-fired power output in January

Tokyo, 14 February (Argus) — Japanese renewable energy developer Erex's biomass-fired generation in January fell on the year, according to data released by the company on 13 February. Erex's combined electricity output from the 50MW Saiki, the 75MW Buzen, and the 49NW Nakagusuku biomass-fired power plants dropped by 8pc on the year to 113GWh in January 2025. The company does not publish data for the 75MW Ofunato plant. Erex's biomass-fired power generation capacity in January stood at 249MW, including Ofunato, burning mainly imported wood pellets and palm kernel shells (PKS). The 20MW Tosa plant has been shut down for an indefinite period since September 2024 because of aging facilities. The company plans to bring two more biomass-fired power plants in Japan on line — the 75MW Sakaide Hayashida in June 2025 and the 300MW Niigata Mega Bio around 2029-30. Erex plans to begin coal and biomass co-firing at the 149MW Itoigawa plant, which currently burns only coal. The plant has already conducted test runs using wood pellets, PKS, and sorghum pellets, but the company has not announced when it will start co-firing operations. Erex also aims to start operations at the 20MW Hau Giang biomass-fired power plant in Vietnam by the end of this month. The plant will burn around 130,000 t/yr of rice husks. By Takeshi Maeda Erex's biomass-fired generation in January 2025 Capacity(MW) Generation(GWh) Start of Operations Saiki 50 32 Nov-16 Buzen 75 48 Jan-20 Nakagusuku 49 32 Jul-21 Ofunato 75 - Jan-20 Total 249 113 Source: Erex Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Poland's Energa confirms biomass conversion plan

25/02/12

Poland's Energa confirms biomass conversion plan

London, 12 February (Argus) — Polish utility Energa will upgrade a 230MW coal-fired unit to co-fire with wood pellets at its 690MW Ostroleka power plant, increasing wood pellet burn in the unit from 2026 onwards. The upgrade to the 230MW unit — located in northwest Poland — is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2025. The upgrade at the unit — one of three — will reduce its emissions to meet the 550g of CO2/kWh cap, Energa said today. Meeting this limit will enable the unit to receive capacity market payments awarded to the unit over 2026-31, as noted in the contract signed with the Polish grid operator. Energa expects to consume 200,000-350,000 t/yr of industrial wood pellets from 2026. Polish oil company Orlen is a majority shareholder in Energa. Energa is one of two large Polish utilities upgrading their coal generation units to allow increased wood pellet co-firing from 2026. Government-controlled Enea is upgrading its coal units at its 1.4GW Polaniec power plant to enable them to co-fire with wood pellets to reduce their emissions and meet the 550g of CO2/kWh cap. After this upgrade, the Polaniec plant, which also operates a dedicated biomass-fired 225MW unit, might increase its biomass consumption to as much as 2.5mn t/yr, Enea said last year. By Tomasz Stepien Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Utility Drax outlook strong to 2031 on deal with UK gov

25/02/10

Utility Drax outlook strong to 2031 on deal with UK gov

London, 10 February (Argus) — UK utility Drax will keep all four of the biomass-fired units at its North Yorkshire power plant operational beyond March 2027, should a proposed agreement with the UK government for further state support up to 2031 be finalised and approved by parliament, the company said. The UK government announced on 10 February details of a proposed contracts-for-difference (CfD) deal with Drax for 2027-31, covering all four of the firm's 645MW biomass-fired units. Under the proposed contract, Drax would generate an aggregate collar of around 6 TWh/yr of biomass-fired power under CfD support in the four years from 1 April 2027 — the day following the expiry of its existing subsidy contract. The minimum generation under the support would be around 5 TWh/yr, Drax said. This would cover 43-52pc of Drax's total biomass-fired output in recent years ( see table ). But Drax "will continue to develop options for long-term investment, including bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (Beccs) and data centres", the company said. This suggests that its biomass-fired power output could be higher than the amount covered under the CfD deal. Security of supply concerns and the relative cheapness of biomass compared with natural gas were the primary reasons behind the government's decision to offer the new subsidies, rather than the plant's prospects to develop large-scale Beccs, the government said. The proposed agreement also allows for system support and ancillary services, Drax said. The CfD support for all Drax's four units at the 2.6GW plant will be under the same terms as Drax is currently receiving for unit 1, with season-ahead power prices setting the base-load market reference price for any given season during the contract period, Drax said. Given these terms, the company is targeting average adjusted earnings before investment, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) from the plant of £100mn-200mn/yr ($125mn-250mn/yr) over April 2027–March 2031. This is inclusive of a "gain share mechanism", which stipulates that the utility will pay back returns above certain threshholds. If revenue minus allowable operating costs and capital investments over the agreement period average between £160mn-210mn/yr, Drax will pay to the government 30pc of the returns in excess of £160mn/yr. And if its revenue is over £210mn/yr, Drax will pay 60pc of the returns in excess of £210/yr. The government said it would tighten the sustainability requirements for the subsidies under the new contract, asking for 100pc of the feedstock to be certified for sustainability, compared with 70pc at present. "Drax supports these developments and will continue to engage with the government on the implementation of any future reporting requirements," the firm said. Flexible generation, pellets Drax continues to target over £500mn/yr of Ebitda post 2027 from flexible generation and wood pellet production, it said. In pellet production, the group is "continuing to develop a pipeline of wider sales opportunities" in North America, Asia and Europe, Drax said. It has reached a preliminary agreement with US firm Pathway Energy for selling pellets for sustainable aviation fuel from 2029, although Pathway has yet to take an investment decision on the project. By Erisa Senerdem Drax's electricity generation by source and Ebitda Year Electricity generation ( TWh ) Ebitda (£mn ) Biomass Hydro Coal Gas Ebitda, total generation Ebitda total 2023 11.5 0.8 1,138 1,214 2022 12.7 696 731 2021 14.1 0.4 2.4 372 398 2020 14.1 1.6 446 412 2019 13.4 3.0 2.8 408 410 — Drax Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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