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Third Portland TP&EE Gears Up
Organizers of the third Timber Processing & Energy Expo (TP&EE) announce that attendee registration on-line is open.
TP&EE will be held September 28-30 at the Portland Exposition Center in Portland, Ore. It is hosted by Hatton-Brown Publishers, Inc., which publishes Wood Bioenergy, Timber Processing and Panel World magazines, and caters to primary producers of lumber, plywood and engineered wood products.
The 2014 event attracted 1,700 industry producer personnel, representing 140 wood products companies and hundreds of lumber, veneer/plywood and engineered wood products mill operations. The event also attracts an international audience, with 22 countries represented in 2014. In addition, 1,000 exhibitor personnel were on hand.
Registration options remain the same as they were in 2014, meaning the event is free for those who register on-line. Registration at the show will be $20. The other on-line options include registration along with a beer & brat ticket for $15.
The event is moving into Hall E, which is a third larger than Hall D, where the event was held in 2014 on the Expo Grounds. The additional space has allowed the show to increase the size of its Beer Garden to allow for more seated area. Also, the event has added German and Italian pavilions featuring machinery manufacturers from those countries.
Nearly 190 exhibitors have purchased all of the available space, 56,000 sq. ft., inside Hall E. Show organizers have added a tent with booth space to be placed in front of Hall E to relieve a growing waiting list.
“That’s about all we could do this time,” comments Show Director Rich Donnell. “Maybe next time we’ll add a second hall. For now though we’ve turned our attention to attendee registration.”
To register, visit: www.timberprocessingandenergyexpo.com.
GREC Ordered To Pay Biomass Supplier
Florida’s Gainesville Renewable Energy Center (GREC) must pay $4.6 million to raw materials supplier Wood Resource Recovery, according to a judge’s ruling in a breach of contract case between GREC, which is managing and operating the 100 MW biomass power plant that started up near Gainesville in 2013, and its top biomass supplier.
The disagreement began in early 2015, when GREC said it would no longer accept yard waste at the biomass plant—despite the contract allegedly saying it was allowable. Wood Resource Recovery filed suit in April 2015, claiming GREC was in violation of the contract. Later GREC counter-sued, claiming the yard waste wasn’t meeting quality standards.
During court action, GREC claimed the yard waste delivered had too many plastic bags in it, while Wood Resource Recovery attorneys argued GREC had used the raw material contract as basis for a major loan, then tried to get out of the contract once the loan was obtained.
The judge said GREC had violated the contract by prohibiting Wood Resource Recovery from delivering yard waste to the biomass plant even though the contract said it was permissible.
Peel Ports Dispatches To Drax Power
Seven months after opening phase 1 of its biomass terminal, Peel Ports has dispatched more than 400 freight services from the railheads at the Port of Liverpool to Drax power station in North Yorkshire, UK.
The Drax site is both the single largest carbon saving project in Europe and the UK’s biggest single generator of renewable electricity. It produces almost 2,000 MW of renewable power—enough for 3 million homes and around 12% of UK renewable generation. The power station is supplied with sustainable biomass shipped directly by rail from the terminal, with each service carrying around 1700 tonnes of compressed wood pellets manufactured and imported from North America. The terminal has created nearly 50 extra permanent jobs at the Port of Liverpool.
In addition to the trans-Pennine rail links used for the Liverpool to Drax flows, the port’s proximity of 25 miles to the West Coast Main Line provides efficient access and journey times to markets in Scotland, the Midlands and the Southeast. For intermodal traffic, the port has W10 gauge clearance capability, allowing 9 ft. 6 in. containers to be conveyed on standard deck height rail wagons. In addition, available train path capacity to the port is currently amongst the highest of all major ports within the UK.
Enviva Links With Lynemouth
Enviva Partners, LP announced the execution of a new take-or-pay off-take contract to supply wood pellets to Lynemouth Power Ltd., a subsidiary of Energetický a průmyslový holding (EPH). Lynemouth Power plans to convert its 420 MW coal facility in the UK to wood pellet fuel by the end of 2017.
Deliveries under this contract are expected to commence in the third quarter of 2017, ramp to full supply of 800,000 metric tons per year in 2018, and continue through the first quarter of 2027. This transaction significantly extends the weighted average remaining term of the Partnership’s off-take contracts to 8 years as of June 1.
“Our strategy is to fully contract our production capacity, and this contract provides additional length and diversification to our sales book,” says John Keppler, Chairman and CEO. “We are proud that a world-class energy group like EPH selected Enviva to supply more than half of the wood pellets required annually by its Lynemouth facility, further reinforcing our position as a preferred supplier to top-tier biomass projects.”
Lahti CHP Plant Receives EIB Loan
The European Investment Bank (EIB) has signed a new loan agreement for a combined-heat-and-power plant (CHP) in Lahti, Finland. The EUR 75 million loan was signed with regional energy utility company Lahti Energia in central Finland for the deployment of a biomass-fired CHP plant. The new facility is set to replace an old coal-fired power plant by 2019 and will run on certified 100% renewable fuel.
Features such as the recovery of condensation from the fuel and the recycling of ashes back into the forest as fertilizer will significantly reduce harmful emissions.
ForesTree Provides Online Services
Hatton-Brown Publishers, Inc., North America’s leading publisher of forest industry trade publications, in partnership with Southern Loggin’ Times, which is a sister publication to Wood Bioenergy, has launched ForesTree Equipment Trader (FET), a first-of-its-kind online service dedicated exclusively to pre-owned forestry equipment, components, parts and related services.
ForesTree Equipment Trader is a new, easy to use marketplace that connects buyers and sellers of used forestry machines, attachments, components, and parts; it connects allied service providers with potential customers; and it connects employers with potential employees.
FET is an affordable, effective service for individuals and forestry equipment dealers. It offers several Membership Levels, with options and features that include multiple listings, multiple photos per listing, full product descriptions, videos, company branding, website embed codes, and much more. An extensive variety of search criteria is available on ForesTree Equipment Trader, including year, make, model, condition, location, radius and more.
Other features of the FET website include: contacting sellers and leaving comments on listings, a seller rating and review system, and an Equipment Wanted List for buyers.
“We’re excited about launching ForesTree Equipment Trader and what it brings to logging equipment owners and dealers,” says DK Knight, Hatton-Brown Publishers’ Co-Publisher. “FET is a fitting outgrowth of Southern Loggin’ Times, which for years has carried the largest used logging equipment classified section of any North American logging magazine. We expect FET to become even more popular than the magazine.”
ForesTree Equipment Trader can be found at www.ForesTreeTrader.com.
Enviva Awards New Fund Grants
The Enviva Forest Conservation Fund, a $5 million, 10-year program designed to protect tens of thousands of acres of bottomland forests in northeast North Carolina and southeast Virginia, announced the recipients of its 2016 grants.
The Enviva Forest Conservation Fund, established by Enviva Holdings, LP, and administered by the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities, is awarding $500,000 in 2016 to preservation and conservation programs that span more than 2,000 acres of environmentally sensitive bottomland and wetland forests in North Carolina and Virginia. The 2016 Enviva Forest Conservation Fund matching-fund grant recipients are:
Wood Energy Events Set For Asheville
The Appalachian Wood Energy Innovations conference will be held on August 24-26 at the Crowne Plaza Resort in Asheville, NC. Participants attending this event will hear from industry, federal agency and university experts on woody biomass policies and incentives, research and pilot projects under way, supply chain challenges, environmental impacts and benefits, and market development opportunities for using wood as an energy source or bioproduct in the Appalachian Region.
Contact Conference Chair Helene Cser, 919-513-2579; email: hecser@ncsu.edu.
Bandit Names Mocny As New CEO
Bandit Industries has hired John Mocny to serve as the company’s chief executive officer. Mocny joined the Bandit team in February 2016, bringing decades of engineering and management experience from previous leadership roles with General Motors and Caterpillar.
Mocny holds a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from Michigan State University, and a Master of Engineering Science and Management degree from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York.
Bandit owners Mike Morey Sr., Dianne Morey and Jerry Morey remain involved with the operations and management of the company. Jerry Morey continues to serve as president of Bandit Industries.
“We decided to bring in a CEO to take better advantage of the opportunities before us, and to help take Bandit to another level,” Jerry Morey says. “It was important for us to find someone with exceptional leadership experience, but also someone who understands the manufacturing side and can relate to our customers. John is also a Michigan native, and he shares the pride we have in our community and our state. He’s a down-to-earth leader.”
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