The demand for wood pellets from Swedish households, heat and power plants and industry increased by almost two percent in 2017 compared with the year before. A total of 1.8 million tonnes of pellets were used, corresponding to around 8.5 TWh of energy. The use has increased over the past three years but still remains 400 000 tonnes shy from the 2011 top level when more than 2.2 million tonnes of pellets were consumed.
The production of pellets in Sweden increased for the fifth consecutive year and now stands at 1.74 million tonnes, almost at the record 1.8 million tonnes from 2010. Imports remained unchanged, about 270 000 tonnes, while exports decreased by about 12 percent to about 200 000 tonnes.
In total, this resulted in an increased use of pellets in Sweden of almost 2 percent or just over 30 000 tonnes in 2017 compared to 2016.
Tidningen Bioenergi’s analysis of the Swedish pellet industry is published in Bioenergi no. 2-2018 (password required) along with a map of the Swedish pellet industry. The analysis is based on an own survey and statistics from Statistics Sweden (SCB).
Facts
About Swedish pellet production
Pellets in Sweden are produced from residues from the sawmill- and wood processing industry and are mainly used as fuel to produce heat, electricity or steam. One tonne of pellets contains about 4.8 MWh of energy. In 2017, there were 62 pellet plants operational of which 26 had an annual production of less the 5 000 tonnes and two plants had production larger than 100 000 tonnes.
