BIOMASS update BIOTHERMIC BEGINS BULK WOOD PELLET DELIVERY IN THUNDER BAY odern wood heating is receiving a boost in northern Ontario. Biothermic has announced the addition of a second bulk wood pellet delivery truck to its fleet. Garaged at the Thunder Bay, Ont., office, this brand new international truck is the first of its kind in the region. The truck is equipped with a self-contained silo, blower and on-board weighing system designed and built by Tropper of Austria. M Bulk wood pellet delivery is a key component to the successful development of larger wood pellet boiler sys-tems. Trucks like Biothermic’s provide a direct link between pellet producers and pellet con-sumers. The new generation of pellet boilers are completely automated and will draw their fuel from a large bulk storage room or silos leading to hands-free heating with wood. This truck will carry 14,000 kilograms (14 tonnes) at a time, which is enough fuel to heat two homes for one year. It will be able to access bulk pellets available in Thunder Bay, Atikokan and Hearst. The truck’s on-board weighing system is accurate to within 10 kilograms, giving it the ability to accurately deliver small loads and large loads while assuring the client with accurate billing. More Pinnacle pellets heading to Japan B.C.-based pellet producer Pinnacle Renewable Holdings Inc. has entered into a long-term, take-or-pay off-take contract with Ube Industries Ltd., a diversified Japanese conglomerate with annual revenues of approximately US$6 billion. Under the terms of the contract, Pinnacle will supply 70,000 metric tons per annum of industrial wood pellets to Ube beginning in late 2019. “Japan has made a strong commitment to decarboniza-tion, and biomass is poised to become an increasingly im-portant part of the country’s energy mix,” said Robert Mc-Curdy, CEO of Pinnacle. “One third of our $421 million in contracted backlog in 2017 was with customers in Japan, and this new contract with Ube further builds on our strong sales momentum in this growing market.” Pinnacle says demand for industrial wood pellets in Ja-pan is accelerating, supported by the government’s Feed-in Tariff system. There are more than 10 new biomass proj-ects currently in late-stage development in Japan. According to Hawkins Wright, a leading provider of market intelligence and analytical services to the interna-tional pulp, paper and biomass industries, the Japanese market represented three per cent of global demand for in-dustrial wood pellets in 2016 and forecasts this market to increase to approximately 10 per cent of global demand in 2021 and 17 per cent in 2026. PINNACLE, WEST FRASER BEGIN CONSTRUCTION OF SMITHERS PELLET PLANT innacle and West Fraser have begun the conversion of an existing particle board facility in Smithers, B.C., to a wood pellet production facility. The project under the Smithers Pellet Limited Partnership will be co-owned by West Fraser Timber Co. (30 per cent) and Pinnacle (70 per cent). Located in northwestern B.C. approximately halfway between Prince George and Prince Rupert, the Smithers fa-cility is connected by direct rail to Pinnacle’s Westview Port Terminal in Prince Rupert. The plant will have an annual capacity of 125,000 metric tonnes, with production expected to begin in the third quarter of 2018. Both fibre supply and customer off-take agreements are in place under long-term agreements, the company reports. “We are pleased to be partnering on the Smithers facility redevelopment with West Fraser. This project will contrib-ute to the economic vitality and job growth of Smithers and other local communities,” Robert McCurdy, CEO of Pinnacle, said in a news release. “We are committed to the numerous communities throughout the Western Canadian fibre basket in which we operate, and we plan to continue to look for similar projects to support our future growth.” Pinnacle currently operates six industrial wood pellet production facilities and a port terminal in B.C., and, in addition to the Smithers operation, has a new production facility under construction in Entwistle, Alta. MAY/JUNE 2018 P 6 Canadian BIOMASS
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