Enviva announces plans for new pellet plant in Bond, Mississippi

Enviva on April 28 announced plans to develop of a new wood pellet plant in Bond, Mississippi, that could have the capacity to produce more than 1 million metric tons per year. The company is also expanding capacity at existing plants.

The proposed Bond plant was announced in a first quarter financial report released by Enviva Partners LP on April 28.  The company said its sponsor has advanced a site it controls in Bond, Mississippi, to the next phase of the development process. The plant is expected to be designed to produce between 750,000 and more than 1 million metric tons per year of wood pellets. Given its close proximity to the Port of Pascagoula, Enviva said production from the Bond plant would be delivered to the Pascagoula terminal by truck for export to customers around the world.

Enviva also said its sponsor continues to evaluate other sites for wood pellet production plants and deep-water marine export terminals across the U.S. Southeast to serve its growing backlog of long-term contracted demand, as well as material contract volumes under negotiation with utilities and power generators in existing and evolving markets around the globe.

Enviva reported that construction of its sponsor’s 750,000 metric ton per year plant in Lucedale, Mississippi, continues, with completion expected in mid-2021. That plant is currently designed and permitted with an embedded expansion project that, if executed, would increase its production capacity from 750,000 metric tons per year to 1.1 million metric tons per year.

Construction is also ongoing at Enviva’s sponsor’s deep-water marine terminal in Pascagoula, Mississippi, which will have a throughput capacity of more than 3 million metric tons per year. Construction of that project is also expected to be complete in mid-2021.

In addition, Enviva said its sponsor continues to progress the development of a fully contracted wood pellet production plant in Epes, Alabama. Enviva said its sponsor recently acquired a wood products mill adjacent to the Epes site and currently is evaluating utilizing the existing infrastructure there to reduce installation costs of the Epes plant, as well as increase the plant’s initial production capacity from 750,000 metric tons per year to more than 1 million metric tons per year, consistent with production levels contemplated by its existing air permit.

In its first quarter report, Enviva Partners also discussed ongoing efforts to boost pellet production capacity at existing pellet plants. The partnership continues its commissioning activities in the production ramp for the recently constructed expansion projects at its Northampton, North Carolina, and Southampton, Virginia, wood pellet plants. The plants are expected to reach production capacity of approximately 750,000 and 760,000 metric tons per year, respectively, by the end of the year.

Growth projects are also under development at Enviva’s plants in Sampson, North Carolina; Hamlet, North Carolina; and Cottondale, Florida, subject to receiving the necessary permits. Those expansion projects are currently expected to be complete by the end of 2022.

Enviva reported net revenue of $241 million for the first quarter, up 17.9 percent when compared to the same period of last year. Gross margin fell to $22.3 million, down 18.3 percent. Adjusted gross margin was $49.1 million, up from $33.3 million during the first quarter of 2020. Net loss for the first quarter was $1.5 million, compared to a net income of $7.6 million.

Additional information is available on the Enviva website.