International Wood Fuels drops plans for US$20M, 100,000 tons/year wood pellet plant in Burnham, Maine, says it will build in North Carolina

Audrey Dixon

LOS ANGELES , November 8, 2011 (Forestweb) – International Wood Fuels Llc (IWF) has ditched a proposed US$20 million wood pellet plant for Burnham, Maine, a company representative said last week, Village Soup reported Nov. 4.

IWF has closed its office in Portland, Maine, and plans instead to build a wood pellet facility in North Carolina, according to spokesperson Laura Sawall at the company's San Diego headquarters.

The availability of rail transport played a role in the IWF decision, said Sawall, adding that the pellet plant had not received hoped-for levels of state support.

The proposed 35-employee Burnham plant would have used the region's wood, including wastewood, to produce 100,000 tons/year of pellets.

IWF announced the plan in 2009 and at first planned to break ground in fall 2009. In July 2010, Sawall said the company continued to work on financing the project and would likely open the pellet plant by fall 2011, Village Soup reported.

In early 2010, IWF opened a facility in Louisa County, Virginia, to produce mulch, pellets and woodchips.

IWF provides biomass supply solutions for the energy and power markets in the U.S. and Europe, according to the company website.

The primary source of this article is Village Soup, Belfast, Maine, on Nov. 4, 2011.

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