Idle wood pellet plant in South Africa to resume operations

U.K.-based Hive Energy recently announced it has partnered with South Africa-based iLive Sustainable Development and the Netherlands-based Partners for Innovation to take over and restore a wood pellet export plant in Africa.

The facility, known as the Coega Biomass Center, is located in Port Elizabeth, a city on the southern coast of South Africa approximately 465 miles east of Cape Town. Information released by Hive Energy indicates the wood pellet plant was idled in 2014 after four years of operation. Refurbishment of the facility is expected to take six to nine months.

Once operational, the facility is expected to have a nameplate capacity of 120,000 metric tons per year. Initial operations are scheduled to begin in July 2021, with the plant expected to be fully operational before the end of 2021.

The project is expected to support 100 direct job and 700 indirect jobs. The plant will take in an estimated 160,000 tons of feedstock annually. Feedstock will consist of biomass residues and non-indigenous forest and destructive invasive vegetation, according to Hive Energy.

Additional information is available on the Hive Energy website.