Colombo Energy wood pellet plant in South Carolina is undergoing commissioning with owners, The Navigator Company, reporting first pellets off the press.
The Navigator Company SA, formerly known as the Portucel Soporcel Group, has revealed that its wholly owned US pellet plant project Colombo Energy is undergoing commissioning with first pellets off the press. The Portuguese pulp and paper major has invested US$119.4 million in a 500 000 tonne per annum capacity pellet plant being built in Greenwood, South Carolina. According its interim results for the first half of 2016, external audits were conducted in June with a view to sustainability certification by Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) and Sustainable Biomass Partnership (SBP) as well as chain-of-custody (CoC) certification for Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) and Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) with the aim to obtain the respective certifications in Q3. Sales operations targeting both the industrial and residential markets in Europe and the US are scheduled to start during Q3. In addition plans are to obtain EN A1 Plus certification for the European residential market and Pellet Fuel Institute (PFI) certification for the US residential market, also during Q3.
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