Enviva, ConocoPhillips team up on torrefied wood pellets

Nov 21, 2011 - US biomass fuel maker Enviva LP and US oil and gas group ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) have set up a company that will produce and sell torrefied wood pellets, Enviva said in a press release today.

The company is called ECo Biomass and is jointly owned by Enviva and ConocoPhillips.

Its initial plant is expected to come on stream in 2013, manufacturing wood pellets that are to be sold to large utilities. No capacity figure for the plant was provided.

ECo Biomass' "drop-in" torrefied fuel is targeted at utilities aiming to cut their carbon emissions and prolong the life of coal-fired facilities without investing significant funds.

Enviva said that ECo Biomass would look to significantly boost its capacity in the next years as big commercial and utility customers in the US, Europe and Asia were actively seeking to adapt facilities to using renewable fuels.

Enviva runs traditional wood pellet plants in the US and Europe with aggregate annual capacity in 2011 of around 750,000 metric tonnes.

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