Pellet fuel facility new market for wood chips By James Ronald Skains "Our plans are to become operational in the first quarter of 2011," Bill New, the Chairman and CEO of Point Bio Energy told the Piney Woods Journal. "We anticipate that we will begin to take chips a couple of months before the pellet mill becomes operational." "We are looking at a production capacity of 450,000 tons of pellets annually," New stated. "That would require about 900,000 tons of chips." "We will be taking both long wood and chips, hardwood and softwood, at the location in Port Allen," New elaborated. "We will be buying hog fuel also to power our operations." Plans for the Point Bio Energy Pellet mill at the Port of Greater Baton Rouge was announced in June of 2009 as a $100 million project. Point Bio Energy will take chips and produce wood pellets for fuel sources overseas, especially England and Western Europe. Wood-pellet burning stoves are common in European homes, especially Scandinavia. \par }{\plain Point Bio Energy, LLC and a strategic European company have signed a ten-year, four-million metric ton contract to supply wood fuel pellets to the large and rapidly growing European markets. A smaller domestic market exists in the northeastern United States especially when heating oil prices rise in winter months. "Locating at the Port of Greater Baton Rouge gives us several advantages," New elaborated. "First we have the ability to ship our finished product by ship to our overseas markets. We will save $10 to $25 per ton by the avoidance of double handling the product." "Secondly, being located on the Mississippi River gives us the ability to bring in chips from further north in the timber belt ports on the Red River and Ouachita Rivers," New explained. "We will also be able to take in long wood, as our facilities will include a chip mill operation at the port. William New has been a long-term consultant to the wood pulp industry in Wisconsin and surrounding states. In the fall of 2008, he New formed Point Bio Energy, LLC to specifically explore the wood pellet venture. Point Bio Energy, LLC now has offices in Baton Rouge, Hamburg and Munich, Germany. In addition, New has executive experience not only with Fortune 500 companies but also with startups and turnarounds. New has earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin and an advanced degree in their Executive Management program. Later, New completed the strategic Management Program at Harvard University "The Baton Rouge pellet mill will create approximately 90 new direct jobs and support over 800 timber related jobs," New told the Journal. "We will be landowner friendly by dealing directly with some of the larger landowners in Louisiana." In a previous news release concerning the project, Jay Hardman, Director of the Port of Greater Baton Rouge said, "We feel that there's a benefit to the timber industry and a benefit to the port with under-utilized facilities. Also, this project would be bringing more deep-draft shipping to Baton Rouge." New also said, "We want to tap a burgeoning European market for wood pellets created by governments aggressively promoting alternative fuels." "European tax credits programs requires that sellers demonstrate environmentally sustainable forest management practices," New noted. "The Louisiana and Mississippi loggers already use best management practices as part of their Sustainable Forestry Initiative certification." "Our wood pellets are very environmentally friendly in the manufacturing stage. No glue or chemicals are used in the process," New explained. "The same type machines that are used to make dog food compact the sawdust into small cube shaped pellets that are dried to maintain their shape. Any odor originating from the operation will be that of wood," New elaborated. "Since the chipping and cubing equipment will be enclosed under the I-10 Mississippi River bridge, any noise created by our manufacturing process will blend into the hum of the traffic already flowing on the bridge." Technically, wood pellets consist of unitized compacted and pelletized wood that is suitable for to burn as green fuel. New has assembled an impressive management team for the Port of Greater Baton Rouge pellet manufacturing facility. John Sullivan is President of the company. Sullivan has 25 years experience in raising equity capital. Sullivan holds an MBA Degree from Santa Clara University and a BA from Columbia University. Executive Vice President focusing on Sales and Marketing is Frank Fitzpatrick, a 35 year paper industry executive. He earned an MBA from American International University and a BS in Chemistry from the University of Massachusetts. Jeffery Bartlett serves Point Bio Energy as Chief Financial Officer. He has 25 years experience in corporate finance. His educational background includes a BA degree from Washington & Lee University and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Chicago. Operations Chief is Roger Huckendubler with forty-one years of experience in the Forest Products Industry plant operations. He earned degrees from universities in Michigan. Dr. Jarvis Prado, R&D Director, is originally from Peru with advanced technical studies in Europe. He has also worked in Japan on renewable energy projects. The size of the European market for wood pellets is considerable and growing rapidly for power generation. In 2007, seven million metric tons were used, and 9.5 million in 2008. Growth rate is expected to continue at a 25% clip for the foreseeable future. Wood pellets sell for $190/tonne CIF. New and his Bio Point Energy, LLC seem to have the support solid support for the project. The Greater Baton Rouge Port Commission had endorsed the project along with the Baton Rouge Area Chamber of Commerce. Other supporters of the project include the Louisiana Economic Development Department and the Department of Agriculture and Forestry. With the general economy in the throes of chaotic financial times with housing starts down and the demand for paper products down, the Point Bio Energy, LLC project could be a little light at the end of a tunnel for South Louisiana loggers in particular and the Louisiana forest industry as a whole. |