The international energy sector is increasingly using biomass (wooden pellets) as a fuel for generating power, due to international pressure from the United Nations and other environmental friendly groups around the world. Even countries like the United States are now committed to reducing the greenhouse gases being pumped into the atmosphere, thereby reducing the global environmental impact. In response to such global interest in biomass as an alternative source of fuel for power generation, South African company, EC Biomass Fuel Pellets (Pty) Limited is to supply Danish power generating company, Energi E2 with 100 000 tons of biomass per annum as part of a five year contract. Energy E2 is one of the biggest users of renewable energy in the world. The IDC’s Wood, Paper and Other Strategic Business Unit was approached to provide funding for the project, which included the purchase of specialist manufacturing equipment and plant improvements.
The EC Biomass Fuel Pellets (Pty) Limited plant is based at the Coega Industrial Development Zone. The site was chosen for its proximity to sustainable large forestry, mainly pine and wattle, combined with large and well developed transport infrastructure, and the strategic links of the Coega Industrial Development Zone and the Port of Ngqura. Raw materials needed to produce the wooden pellets, ie waste sawdust and wood chips, bark and forestry waste, are readily available in the area and from other neighbouring communities. Being waste products, the cost of raw material is therefore very low.
Wood pellets are the most common form of biomass fuel in power stations due to their easy-to-use qualities (including transportation and in the manufacturing process) and combustion qualities, which are comparable to coal. Whilst wooden pellets are environmentally friendly, they also possess about 75% of coal’s combustion capabilities. A further environmental advantage of pellets is that their by-product (ash) can be used in the manufacturing of fertilizer.
The manufacturing process involved in the production of the wood fuel pellets is also environmentally sound. Organic material is transported by road to the processing site where it is fed into a dryer for moisture extraction to exact specifications, prior to being processed through a hammer mill where the dried material is homogenized to a size less than 3mm. The resulting material is then processed into pellet press lines resulting in an end product which is environmentally neutral.
Denmark is the second largest wood fuel pellets user in the European market, consuming over 748 000 tons per annum. Local production in Denmark of the wooden fuel pellets is only 36% of total consumption, with the balance being supplied by the import market. In 2001, Energy E2 committed to the use of biomass pellets at two of its combined heat and power plants at Amager and Avedore. The company now has an annual demand in excess of 300 000 tons of wood pellets and 150 000 tons of straw pellets per annum. Energy E2 has taken the lead in terms of compliance with the Carbon Credit Scheme and has invested both time and effort to achieve 100% compliance with the use of renewable fuels in its electricity generation process.
