New Wood Pellet Plant

[thecfarm]

Quebecnewf,good idea there.I would hate to see all that wood go to waste too.How many acres will be flooded?BUT,it will take some planning to get rid of all of the wood.The way the mills are,their yards gets full and they don't want no more.

[tughill]

This is a great success story for all parties involved!

Ken, would you mind telling us roughly how much $ investment is involved here?  I'm assuming millions or maybe tens of millions to build this plant?  Also what is the payoff assumed to be, in years?  Two tons an hours doesn't seem like all that much, but every bit of oil that we don't import from the middle east is a good thing as far as I'm concerned.

Did the designers look into the possibility of generating electrical power from the woodchips to power the plant?  It's probably not economical on this relatively small scale, but it would be a great complimentary business-wood fired power generation plants having some facility located next door that can use waste steam heat that is...plus if both plants use the same fuel/raw material, there would be greater economy of scale, potential cost sharing of material handling equipment.  What is the normal electrical load of such a facility?

Are you able to market the bark for mulch or some other product?

Great job, keep the photos and info coming, this is great stuff!

[Ken]

Tughill,

We haven't looked at this as a success story yet but we are working hard to make it happen.  Our entire investment prior to start-up is pushing $3 million.  Our payoff is expected to be in the neighborhood of 10 years based on our financial projections.  You are right by saying that 2 tonnes/hr is a small plant relative to most but raising enough capital for this size of project was enough of a challenge.  We did look briefly at other options like CHP but our small scale and scarce financial resources limited opportunities to do other things.  We can sell (give away) our bark for hog-fuel but we plan to look at other options after we learn how to make pellets efficiently. 

QuebecNewf,

The wood from Goose Bay was balsam fir and spruce. 

SD,

Although we have not had a lot of red pine we do notice a distinct difference in the amount of heat required to drive off the moisture in pine species as well as hemlock.  Also, to date we have had issues trying to make good pellets by using just pine.  We have been mixing it with other species.

I hope everybody is having a great holiday break.

Cheers
Ken

[Ironwood]

Cool stuff, thanks for taking the time to post. (And my visiting MIL thought all this time spent o nthe 'puter was just entertainment :)

   Merry Christmas all.

Ironwood

[SwampDonkey]

Ken, try some white ash. White ash has the least amount of water of any NB hardwood tree. Very surprising I know but you only have to get rid of 6 lbs/ft³ of water to reach 12 % and it's around 48 lbs/ft³ green. So that's going to help in efficiency. The beech ,hard maple, and  y birch have to give up 12-14 lbs.  ;) Ash being more porous I would think would dry even quicker. White cedar is another low water content tree. Only have to loose 4 lbs and it's real light to begin with. But be careful of the cedar, I think it's risky to handle because of spontaneous combustion. Maybe I'm just over cautious. White pine shouldn't be too bad for water,  around 7 lbs, but can also be risky stuff if there is any of that fine dust floating around.

When your standing on the outside looking in, I've got no idea what's been done with the species used and what approach has been tried. So just remember that. ;D

[Ron Scott]

Those Wisconsin loggers really know how to put on a show. Great music.

Ditto! Well done.

[SwampDonkey]

Ken, Marc Blanchard says they at Crabbe lumber have started up a pellet plant. I assume it's on their site in Bristol. They had cleared off a site for a hardwood mill a few years back and I assume they put it in down there. $6 M he said.

[Quebecnewf]

Ken

The area to be flooded for this hydro project is 260 sq km . Thats a pretty big area in my books.

Not all of the area is wooded but the areas that are are all old growth. Some sections have small trees (black spruce) but there are some valleys running back from the river that will yeild some of the biggest and tallest spruce to be found anywhere in eastern Canada. Sure would be a shame to see these trees covered by water and left to rot. If you go to your lumber dealer and ask for a 10 x 10 x 40' spruce you had better be ready to fork over some big dough.

Quebecnewf

[SwampDonkey]

Newf, it's not uncommon to find 30" 100 foot red spruce in protected areas in these parts. Just down the road the neighbors cut a grove of 20-26" white spruce 80-90 feet tall some years back. ;) The village of Perth had red spruce over 3 feet on the but in their protected watershed. I marked and cut some and I invited the  genetics folks from Forestry Canada to come and get some seed from the tops.  I collected a bunch to and had them extracted and preserved in the seed centre. Irving expressed great interest in the seed as well.



Wapske 100 foot red spruce. The one way back. The fir all died out and where just pecker poles.

[Quebecnewf]

When you say red spruce is the wood red or reddish in color. Our spruce is white wood. We have 3 spruce types. Black spruce small tree. Largest in this region will not be more than 8 to 10 " DBH.

We then have a (white spruce) local name not that many around you see them in the woods but they are very scattered. Bigger than black spruce but not as big as the regular spruce.

Then there is (spruce) our biggest tree tall and lean. They make up aboout 20 to 25 percent of the forest the rest is balsam fir.

This wood was always used for boat building in our region. Used for plank and most of the main parts of the boat. The local built boats had no hardwood in them as there was none to be had in this region other than birch which waas not suitable for boats. They did make most of the knees and framing parts out of larch when they could get it but in later years there was none around has they had cut and dug all of it.

Quebecnewf

[Rocky_Ranger]

Not wanting to interrupt yall's spruce discussion, but do we have any idea(r) of how many pellet plants we have or are going in?  I know of one established plant here in Arkansas in Pine Bluff, with a small one already starting operation in Mena, and one going in around Danville.  I've heard Domtar is looking at something similar in SW Arkansas.  One new plant in Kremmling CO - you guys out there probably know more in you neck of the woods. 

Now,  we are entering into agreements for biomass under the NRCS Farm Bill for payments up to $45/ton per dry weight of biomass delivered to qualifying locations.  Is there a thread already underway on this?

It really looks to me like we are ramping up biomass opportunities - ya'll seeing this? 

[SwampDonkey]

There's black and white spruces up your way. White spruce is bigger of the two. Up on the McKenzie R. white spruce is the biggest it grows anywhere. Our red spruce is also a white wood. The tree grows mostly in with hardwoods, but some places here it hybridizes with black on moss covered soil. I thinned a pile of it this summer, thick as dog hair. Not even room for a bunchberry to grow. :D  In the hardwoods it grows big like white pine. Our white spruce grows mainly along creeks and gullies, recolonizes fields and grows 15-20 feet taller than balsam fir. Fir only gets about 65 feet tall here and ours in northern NB grow larger than in southern NB. About 18" at dbh is about the end of it at 80 years. Grows fast. I cut one a couple years ago 18" and 45 rings on the stump from pith to bark. It blew over in a wind, was growing on a piece of shale, but otherwise like garden soil.

[SwampDonkey]

Rocky it seems to me the Europeans have a couple plants around Georgia and Florida to use in their electric generation plants. Britain I believe just built the biggest power plant to use pellets for generation. The pellets are to be shipped from the USA for the most part. It's all to do with this being "Green" and carbon emissions.

[Rocky_Ranger]

You mean we are exporting pellets?  I hope somebody near one of these super plants comes on and gives some details; I remember one in the Northeast that burned - seemed to me it was a very large output plant but mainly for domestic use.  In fact, I was in Colorado at the time and pellets were in short supply; not only could you not get them but they almost doubled after the plant fire in New England.  They must be around $200/ton right now, I've bought them for $165 and up to $240 for 40# bags - picked up.

[SwampDonkey]

Rocky, that was the trouble around here. All those outfits were exporting them and no one could get enough supply for domestic use.

[tughill]

The company up here is called 'new england wood pellet'

http://www.pelletheat.com/

They have a plant in central NY (Schuyler) are buying a former fiberboard plant in Deposit NY, as well as their main plant in Jaffrey NH.

As far as I know, the plant in schuyler was not buying roundwood, when I talked to a rep about a year ago.  They were using sawdust/chips from other area manufacturing plants...which is hard for me to believe they get enough waste wood from the local sawmills or furniture manufacturing...especially with the economy, these sort of places are not doing well.

Their website says Jaffrey produces 75000 tons a year, and that Schuyler will procure 150000-200000 tons of raw material per year...pretty substantial as far as I can tell...

[Stephen Alford]

 Thanks ken ,very interesting. There is a new wood pellet plant under construction here on the Island. Another new plant making pellets out of straw appears to be shut down.  Stephen

[South Fork]

Any help out there with busines plans? Stuck in a rut and would like any in put. We are in Idaho great feed stock and no jobs and lots of summer fire as well as un used biomass.

[Ken]

Quebecnewf,
Although I have no idea of the forest conditions over the entire area, if my math is correct 260 sq/km would represent approximately 1.3mil m3 of timber if the average, probably conservative estimate, of 50 m3/ha (approx 10 cords/acre for our American friends) is representative of the area in question.  Somebody please correct this comment if I am off base. 

To me it is ludicrous that the powers that be on both sides of the Canadian/American border have not yet realized that we can't always rely on cheap foreign and dirty domestic fossil fuel supplies for our needs.  Although our operation is small in overall size relative to most other pellet plants, this amount of fibre would satisfy our requirements for nearly 40 years.  More than enough time for the payback even at todays interest rates for any loans related to the forest industry. 

Rocky Ranger,
There are megatons of pellets being exported across the Atlantic to countries who realize that renewable, sustainable fuel supplies are the future.  Wouldn't it be great to be using this resource right here at home and helping to revive the forest industry at the same time?  The price of domestic fuel pellets has increased largely because pellet producers have had to use a more expensive raw material for their feed stock, combined with the supply and demand issue from last year.  Beginning late last year the average retail price in the stores of Eastern Canada is $300/ton+. 


Ken

[Rocky_Ranger]

Are your tons and ours the same?  Seems to me maybe metric comes into play - anyway; I heard today $240/ton (2000#/ton).  Pre-season we bought for $175/ton, but that was a five ton minimum.  I say we, but ain't no "me" in it, it was some of my family.  I'm still burning about 10 rick of wood/winter and dealing with all those ashes and dust(s)......  I sure miss my Quadra-fire......

[Gary_C]

I have also heard that a lot of wood pellets are being shipped to the EU and particularly last winter, but in talking to the marketing people at one new pellet plant, they are questioning that assertion. They say that they do not know of any significant exports like everyone believes. Does anyone have any hard facts?

I too could have bought pellets this fall for $160 per ton direct although local price was at least $195 per ton. I think right now the plant is getting $175 out the door but I don't know what the dealers are at for pellets.

And apparently right now inventories are building though it may have been due to poor sales in November and early December. In fact some plants may be scaling back production so as to not get too far ahead.

[SwampDonkey]

There have been several conferences on biofuel, Gary. The folks involved in pellets said most product in this region was exported. There weren't a great many producers at the time, but the domestic market was pretty much being overlooked. So other then getting it from the horse's mouth, like this case, I would almost think there were some big speculators involved or a bunch or nay sayers that always appear on the scene. Many of these larger outfits that started up awhile back were funded by government loans and grants. Government generally thinks of the export market , that's what most of the forest industry is based on up here. I just did a Google search and ACOA (government grants) is handing out money to a commercial sawmill ($2M) to put in a pellet plant and Briquette plant. The provincial government is topping that up with another $5M. The project is $11M. That's without digging to deeply into it. New Brunswick has an allocation of $100M from the Feds from a $1B nation wide economic stimulus over a 2 year period. This plant addition will allow them to produce an estimated 50,000 tons of pellets and 8,000 tons of briquettes. Export sales are expected to reach more than $9 million.

[Gary_C]

Yes, but export sales for those producers may be to the US, not the EU as everyone thinks.

I know that last winter there were pellet shortages and the one new plant I know about in WI just came online in the middle of the winter and was pretty much sold out. That was probably because they were late getting started and had commitments in hand. And I've heard of many plants that started up last year, but I don't know of them specifically.

Here in the upper midwest, there has always been a market for pellet stoves and pellets and it has been served in small towns by local hardware stores. I know of any number of people that have homes in the country that burn pellets and buy their pellet supply in the early fall and the local hardware store would even deliver them in bags and stack them in the garage for them. And there may have been just a few pellet plants that have traditionally supplied that market. And pellets are an excellent product for those that do not want the mess and work of firewood.

Now because of this biomass thing and of course government grants and stimulus money, we may be entering a time when the supply of pellets may exceed the demand. I suspect pellets may have a good future, but the demand must catch up with burgeoning supplies. I know that some industrial accounts and some local school districts are converting to pellets, but a lot more of that needs to happen to keep up with the rapidly expanding production.

So what I am saying is before you jump into production or investment in pellet production, you better know for sure where the demand is located and not just some stories of huge exports to Europe that may or may not exist.

And then there is the supply of biomass. In this part of the country, there are far more people and companies that have ideas and uses for the supply of biomass than there is supply of wood. That may not be true in some areas like the west where there is all that bug killed pine, but here the existing users are already fighting over the biomass supply and the loggers are right now so desperate for business they are reluctantly filling that demand. And that is why one WI DNR marketing official has said there are people out there with unrealistic expectations for what they can obtain biomass for their expected production. I could see exactly what he was saying when there was and now is a large power plant converting to biomass and planning to pay around $25 per ton for wood biomass and that is just not going to happen.

And then there is coal for competition. I have no idea what coal costs these large plants and they keep it very quiet, but I suspect it is very competative at that $25 per ton price for biomass. But there are also stories that coal will be taking huge jumps in price as many 20 year old contracts are now expiring. And coal fired plants would be hit with huge carbon taxes or capital improvements if this cap and trade thing ever passes.

So it looks to me like this biomass thing including wood pellets is going to be a wild ride for some time.

[SwampDonkey]

It's the European market, there are two plants in the SE US for the European market to. They have said so themselves, not hearsay.

[Ken]

Rocky Ranger,

Our tonnes (2200 lbs) are 10% larger than yours so it is a significant difference.


Gary C,

There is lots of talk of the burgeoning European pellet market and there are producers from North America who are shipping product there but the only producers able to do so are much larger than we are.  In order to justify the logistics of shipping product across the ocean the shipment has to be large.  If I am not mistaken the Shaw group here in northern NB do ship the vast majority of their production  from that plant out of the Port of Belledune to a power plant overseas.  I agree that the pellet market here in NA will be unstable for the foreseeable future as long as the "powers that be" do not begin to promote this as a viable, locally renewable fuel source.  Just think of the opportunities if we were to start using this resource to heat our hospitals, schools, office complexes as well as our homes.  Not to mention that we could be replacing some of the non-renewable fossil fuels that are being burned in our power plants.   I do agree that the biomass industry will be in for a wild ride for some time but the strong will survive and thrive over time.

I hope everybody had a great holiday season and that 2010 will mark the beginning of the forest industry recovery.


Cheers
Ken