Production start at biggest pellet plant in North America

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RWE
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RWE Innogy commissioned the world's largest plant for the production of pellets from green wood in the US state of Georgia. The wood pellets produced in this plant will be shipped from Georgia to Europe as of this summer. They will be used in existing hard coal-fired power plants of RWE for the generation of electricity and heat. By replacing fossil fuels with biomass, RWE will save around 1 million tons of CO2 per year. The annual production capacity of the plant in Georgia totals 750,000 tons of wood pellets. With the commissioning of the pellet plant, RWE is implementing its integrated biomass strategy across all stages of the value chain from procurement and production of the primary feedstock through to the generation of energy.

The wood pellets which are produced in Georgia and shipped to Europe are primarily destined for use in the hard coal-fired power plants of RWE in Amer in the Netherlands, where up to 30% of biomass are already co-fired today. This share is to be increased to 50% (Amer 8) over the next few years and to 80% (Amer 9) in the long term. RWE is currently planning the conversion of its coal-fired power plant in Tilbury, UK, to a dedicated biomass-fired power plant. This project will make Tilbury the biggest biomass-fired power plant in the world, until its scheduled closure by 2015 at the latest, with an expected capacity of around 750 MW. The plant would expect to use around 2 million tons during the remainder of its life. Around 50% of this could come from Georgia. The conversion is expected to be complete before the end of 2011.
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