Enviva firms up timeline for Epes pellet plant

US wood pellet producer Enviva has taken a step forward with developments for its planned 700,000 t/yr Epes pellet production facility in Alabama, announcing that the plant will be operational in early 2023.

The company also purchased 307 acres of land at the port of Epes industrial park in December, signalling positive intent towards taking a final investment decision (FID). Enviva estimated that it will invest $175-200mn in the project.

The proposed biomass fired plant "will be a near-carbon copy of Enviva's Lucedale, Mississippi, plant, which is currently under construction," Enviva told Argus.

Enviva secured a permit from the Alabama Department of Environment Management in December 2019, allowing the construction of the Epes pellet plant.

The producer has signed about 3.4mn t/yr worth of long-term take-or-pay wood pellet contracts with Japanese offtakers, with deliveries scheduled to start in 2021-25.

Enviva has an estimated production capacity of 5mn t/yr of wood pellets globally, making up about 70pc of total US wood pellet exports last year. Enviva's total global contracted wood pellet supply is expected to grow to almost 7mn t/yr by 2025.

By Gabriella Twining