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Offering in-depth learning opportunities

In-depth learning opportunities tailored to meet your personal business objectives

Maximise your time out of the office by signing up for one of the following:

Option 1: Premium Pellet Focus Day
Option 2: Logistics and Technical Stream
Option 3: Introductory Workshop

Each stream will be followed by an ice-breaker drinks reception for the full conference delegation in the Harvest/ Wellington Suite

Pre-Conference Day: Tuesday 5 April 2016
Option 1: Premium Pellet Focus Day (9.30 - 17.00) 9.30 – 10.00 Chairperson’s Opening Remarks on prospects and realities for the premium pellet market Christian Rakos, Director, European Pellet Council 10.00 – 10.20 Italy Annalisa Paniz, Director, AIEL 10.20 – 11.00 Morning Coffee 11.00 – 11.20 UK Edward Billington, Strategy Director, Billington Bioenergy 11.20 – 11.40 France Hugues de Cherisey, Director-General, SNPGB 11.40 – 12.00 Germany and Austria Christian Rakos, Director, European Pellet Council 12.00 – 12.20 Scandinavia Bengt-Erik Löfgren, President, Swedish Pellet Association 12.20 – 13.40 Networking Lunch 13.40 – 14.00 A view from the Russian market Rens Hartkamp, Sustainability Manager, CM Biomass 14.00 – 14.20 Production developments and challenges for biomass producers in Latvia Didzis Palejs, Chairman of the Board, Latvian Biomass Association 14.20 – 14.50 Afternoon Coffee 14.50 - 16.00 Panel discussion: What are the key challenges facing the residential market? How are pellets competing with heating oil and alternative fuels? Methods to increase liquidity, even during mild winters What are the fiscal challenges facing the premium pellet market? Is the transportation network adequate to get supply to the market? How do the industrial and premium pellet markets interact and will there be further convergence? Moderated by Arnold Dale, Vice-President Bioenergy, Ekman & Co. Hugues de Cherisey, Director-General, SNPGB Edward Billington, Strategy Director, Billington Bioenergy Michael Christensen, Trader, CM Biomass Partners Paolo Perini, Chief Executive, Segatifruili 16.00 - 17.00 Closing round-tables Join delegates for informal interactive discussions led by conference speakers on topics raised throughout the day 17.00 - 17.10 Closing remarks This will be followed by ice-breaker drinks for the full conference delegation in the Harvest/ Wellington Suite
Option 2: Logistics and Technical Stream New for 2016, this stream will provide an opportunity for delegates to dig deeper into the operational aspects of the biomass supply chain. Experienced leaders will guide participants through a series of discussion, case studies and scenarios examining the operational and technical considerations as well as the risks from forest to furnace. Who should attend? Engineering companies; Project managers Heads of Operations, Logistics and Supply Chain Handling and Logistics companies ------------------------------------------------------------------ 9.30 – 10.15 Introduction and key considerations for participants in the biomass market Key components of the biomass supply chain - manufacture, trade and consumption A focus on offtake agreements, fibre supply and other factors to consider Cost efficiencies and risk management for counter parties Bill Strauss, President and Founder, FutureMetrics John Swaan, Senior Associate, FutureMetrics 10.15 – 11.00 Moderated round table discussions and interactive case study 11.00 – 11.30 Morning Break 11.30 – 12.00 Optimising wood pellet plant operations Owning Safety – how safety enhances production and quality Operational Key Performance Indicators – Understanding what matters from plant start up to day to day running Managing Performance – as it relates to inbound fibre and end customer needs Scott Bax, Senior Vice-President Operations, Pinnacle Renewable Energy 12.00 – 12.30 Small working group activity and feedback to the wider group 12.30 – 14.00 Networking Lunch 14.00 – 14.45 Achieving operational excellence and firing biomass for power cost-effectively Yves Ryckmans, CTO, Laborelec Gerry Riley, Principal Fuels and Combustion Engineer, RJM International 14.45 – 15.15 Afternoon Break 15.15 – 16.00 Small working group activity and feedback to the wider group 16.00 – 16.30 Wrap-up of the day’s presentations This will be followed by ice-breaker drinks for the full conference delegation in the Harvest/ Wellington Suite
Option 3: Introductory Workshop (9.30 - 17.00) Hosted by Michael Wild, W&P and IBTC and Gernot Stadlober, Stadlober This workshop is an interactive crash course for newcomers to the biomass sector, who will gain the necessary knowledge to make the most of the following main two days of the conference as well as be better prepared to undertake their own activities in the biomass markets. Who should attend? From project developers, traders and brokers to distributors or consumers of wood pellets, this workshop will bring synergy to the different elements along the value chain connect the dots to form the bigger biomass market picture. What will you learn? From the very basics of biomass via the discussion of processing and consumption technologies the aspects of biomass trading will be reached and discussed in detail Established and new trading mechanisms, contractual terms, price formation and the ever changing framework conditions will be examined With contributions from: Martin Englisch, Institut für Bioenergie Roland Kasmanhuber, TECCON Vincent Roiron, Euronext Yves Ryckmans, LABORELEC Jean Michel Sylvestre, Charmont Investments The workshop will cover: Solid biomass, the very basics Understanding versus definitions The physics, chemistry and measurment Common problems, misunderstandings, misinterpretation Industry overview: An introduction to the international biomass market The fundamentals and economics of biomass trade Morning Coffee Technical focus From feedstock to tradeable products Techonolgies and economics of biomass processing Requirements by the heating market applications Requirements of the power plants and industrial applications Networking Lunch Trading focus: The biomass supply chain and key risk mitigation strategies Quality issues and failures and necessary documentation Challenges with transporting and handling pellets Contracts and contractual terms Typical costs along the supply chain Market prices and new trading instruments Afternoon Coffee Other key areas to be addressed: The regulatory landscape and commercial implications on the industry Overview of how the industrial and domestic markets interact Sustainability: Key criteria and evaluations schemes This will be followed by ice-breaker drinks for the full conference delegation in the Harvest/ Wellington Suite

Feedback from last year's pre-conference day:

"Thanks for this interesting conference. It was very informative from a premium market perspective.” Annalisa Paniz, Manager AIEL

"What a great idea to add the premium pellet focus day. I found it very valuable. Makes the trip overseas very worthwhile.” Scott Bax, Senior VP, Operations, Pinnacle Renewable Energy

"Good session which helped layout the fundamentals of the global biomass markets." Corbbit Simmons, Manager, Mergers and Acquisitions, Hancock Natural Resource Group

To register for the pre-conference day, select the "3 day pass" on the registration page. You will then be able to select one of the options above.