RENTECH PURCHASES ALLEGHENY PELLET Rentech announced that its subsidiary, New England Wood Pellet (NEWP), has acquired the assets of Allegheny Pellet Corporation (Allegheny) for approximately $7 million. The acquisition expands NEWP’s market position as the largest producer of wood pellets for the U.S. heating market. “Consistent with the growth strategy we outlined when we acquired NEWP, we are pleased to expand NEWP’s platform with the acquisition of Allegheny,” said Sean Ebnet, senior vice-president of Rentech’s wood fibre business. Allegheny’s wood pellet plant in Youngsville, Pa. Has been operating since 1993. The facility processes residuals from local sawmills into wood pellets for sale through big box stores, specialty retailers and bulk sales channels. The plant has historically experienced relatively stable feedstock costs due to a consistent supply of residuals within an economic haul radius of the facility. Allegheny’s customers are responsible for the costs and logistics arrangements of pellet deliveries. Allegheny will be fully integrated into NEWP and will operate as its fourth pellet plant. NEWP intends to expand the plant’s annual production from approximately 36,000 tons under a four-day workweek to approximately 50,000 tons under a sevenday workweek. The additional production will help meet strong demand for pellets in Pennsylvania and New York. Allegheny is expected to generate approximately $10 million in revenues and $1.5 million in EBITDA annually once operating fulltime. Rentech is currently in the final stages of completing its pellet plants in Atikokan, Ont. And Wawa, Ont., both of which are expected to come online in 2015. The plants will have acombined capacity of approximately 500,000 tonnes per year. CANADA CERTIFICATION LEADER...STILL The latest forestry certification stats show Canada continues to be far and away the leader in forest sustainability. Totals from the end of 2014 collected by certificationcanada.org indicate growth in certified land mass in Canada of 8 million ha, an increase of five per cent over the 2013 total of 151 ha. As of 2014, only 10 per cent of the world’s forests were certified, yet Canada had over 40 per cent of the world’s certified forests. In total, Canada has 161 million ha certified to at least one of the three internationally-recognized forest certification programs. In fact, Canada has over 50 per cent of all PEFC endorsed certifications worldwide (CSA and SFI), and almost a third of the FSC certifications. British Columbia, the supplier of the majority of wood pellets in Canada, remains a leader within Canada as well. Its 52 million ha of forest land certified to one of three internationally recognized certification standards is, on its own, more than any other country in the world. B.C. alone has 27 per cent more certified area than the entire U.S. and 37 per cent more than Russia. WEBINAR SERIES TARGETS COMBUSTIBLE DUST A new three-part webinar series will tackle the issue of combustible dust, providing important information on how to mitigate dust in all biomass environments. Canadian Biomass, along with sister publication Canadian Forest Industries, has partnered with industry veteran John Bachynski to present the series. Bachynski has 30 years of expertise dealing with dust explosion issues, and is currently a member of the team at EPM Consulting. The hour-long seminars will be presented from May to July 2015: • Wednesday, May 27 - Dust Explosion Mitigation I - Managing the risk • Tuesday, June 23 - Dust Explosion Mitigation II - Managing the dust • Wednesday, July 22 - Dust Explosion Mitigation III - Managing the liability The cost of each webinar is $25. The webinar can be viewed and listened to from any location where web access is available. For more information, visit canadianbiomassmagazine.ca. OPG FIRES STEAM-TREATED PELLETS The advanced biofuel that is being fired in OPG’s Thunder Bay Generating Station is steamtreated pellets made from sustainably-sourced sawmill residuals. This advanced biofuel is produced in Norway where it has been in use for a number of years. “It’s steam-treated,” OPG director of media, issues and information management Neal Kelly told Canadian Biomass over the phone. “It improves the fuel’s properties in three areas. It repels water unlike the pellets we’re using at Atikokan – the advanced biomass can be stored outside in a pile where it can withstand the elements. It’s also very durable so it creates less dust. It has a higher energy density than white wood pellets, so that enables the unit to achieve full load with minimal boiler modifications.” Because the steam-treated pellets are more durable, OPG is able to use the same fuelhandling system it used when the Thunder Bay plant burned coal. The fact that the pellets are stored outside and are durable enough to be handled with the same fuel-handling system has meant that fewer modifications were required at the Thunder Bay plant. The advanced biofuel has been thermally processed, driving off the volatile matters that bring the risk of self-heating. “We’re working with Confederation College in Thunder Bay to do research on biomass and advanced biomass and hopefully we’ll be able to open up new and innovative ways of using the material in the future,” Kelly says. “We feel like we’re on the cutting edge of a new technology.” OPG has a five-year contract for the supply of the advanced biofuels from Norway, but “is open to local suppliers of advanced biomass fuels,” Kelly says. BIOAMBER COMMISSIONS SARNIA PLANT BioAmber Inc., an industrial biotechnology company producing sustainable chemicals, announced it has initiated commissioning activities for its 30,000 MT capacity bio-succinic acid plant located in Sarnia, Ont. Commissioning and start-up is expected to take approximately five months, with the facility being in commercial operation in Q3 2015. The company expects construction to be completed in two months and it is carrying out commissioning and start-up activities. Project costs are within the original budget estimate of US$125 million, plus or minus 10 per cent. “This is a significant milestone for BioAmber, which is poised to begin a period of rapid growth,” said Jean-Francois Huc, CEO. “During the commissioning phase we will test the plant and get it running section by section, produce bio-succinic acid and qualify it with our customers and begin to sell product that meets specifications. We plan to be in full commercial operation in Q3 2015, by which time we can reliably supply customers including our take-orpay contracts”. The Sarnia plant will be the world’s largest succinic acid manufacturing facility, with an annual nameplate capacity of 30,000 metric tons. BioAmber has signed take-or-pay agreements with Vinmar and PTTMCC (a joint venture between PTT PLC and Mitsubishi Chemical) that represent sales volumes of over 5,000 metric tons in 2015 and 15,000 tons in each of 2016 and 2017. BioAmber has also signed a number of supply agreements with non-binding volume commitments that collectively exceed the available capacity in the plant. PELLETIER NEW COO AT CANADA RENEWABLE Canada Renewable Bioenergy Corp. has appointed Denis Pelletier as its chief operating officer, replacing Robert Mukasa, who has decided to leave the company to pursue other interests. Pelletier has been engaged by the company since March 2014 as a consultant through Fortec Consulting Inc., where he was involved in various aspects of forest operation management and permitting for companies as well as developing a pellet and biomass manufacturing facility for the company in northwestern B.C. Pelletier has a diverse background in forest management in B.C. beginning his career with International Forest Products on coastal B.C. operations undertaking all phases of operational development. He was a resource analyst with the Ministry of Forests in Prince George, B. C. for four years before joining Timberline Forest Inventory Consultants as a resource analyst, planner and department manager. Pelletier subsequently became the branch and regional manager, overseeing all services and operations, and then an executive at Timberline where he managed the Prince George Branch and northern B.C. region for seven years, expanding Timberline’s client base, lines of business and service delivery model. During this time, he also established Timberline as a co-founder of Borealis Offsets, an afforestation carbon credit company. Rebiere new president of WPAC Brad Bennett has resigned as president and director of the Wood Pellet Association of Canada (WPAC). WPAC’s board of directors unanimously approved the appointments of Michele Rebiere as president and director, Rene Landry as vice-president and director, and Wayne Young as director. Bennett stepped down for personal reasons WPAC noted in a press release. “The board of directors thanks Mr. Bennett for his service to WPAC and wishes him success in his future endeavors.” Rebiere is curently the chief financial officer of Viridis Energy Inc.