The most modern wood pellet plant in Europe is officially operational now that Austria-based Yamuna GmbH has inaugurated its first-of-its-kind plant in Gars am Kamp. The ceremony was followed by a two-day open house at the plant which was attended by 1 500 visitors, both from the local community and further afield.
Not only did the different processing stations inside Europe’s most modern pellet plant arouse great interest but so did an extensive exhibition of pellet stoves were on show, presented together partner companies. The opening ceremony itself was attended by more than a hundred invited guests.
In eastern Austria, there are more pellets consumed than produced, so it was natural to build the most modern pellet plant in Europe here in Gars am Kamp. For this first year, we plan to produce 40 000 tonnes of Y pellets. This corresponds to the annual heating requirement of around 8 000 households, explained Christoph Walla, Y Pellets Plant Manager.
The construction period was kept extremely short. The groundbreaking ceremony was held in March 2017 and just before the end of the year, the plant went into operation with the first bulk pellet delivery to a residential customer on December 22.
In total, EUR 9 million was invested in the construction of the plant, which currently employs 15 people. Walla also referred to the expansion plans, which were already taken into account in the construction of the plant.
We want to go into the research of new products – from briquettes to animal litter. The new Y Pellets plant provides enough space for the necessary infrastructure. Maybe there will soon be sugar pellets, remarked Michael Kotyk CEO and one of the developers behind the proprietary wood processing technology deployed at the plant.
Kotyk laid the original plans for this unique production facility in 2012. Y Pellets are made using a consistent mixture of hard- and softwood. The material is supplied to the plant as roundwood, which is unusual in an Austrian context as most plants use feedstock received as sawdust or woodchips.
