By: Mike Curci
Chairman, PFI Commercial Fuel Committee

Since the 1800s, the United States has been using biomass to generate power for use in homes and manufacturing. Beginning in the late 1980s and early 1990s, European countries began conducting co-firing tests utilizing wood pellets. Today, there are numerous case studies, along with a multitude of generating facilities that use wood pellets to offset the usage of coal. Hasselbyverket in Stockholm has been using 250,000 tons of pellets a year since 1993, and Electrabel is currently co-firing using 300,000 tons a year at its Rodenhuize, Belgium power plant.

The United States does not have a generating facility that utilizes wood pellets to generate power, yet the US is capable of producing over six million tons of pellets annually. Much of the US pellet production is currently exported to European countries for use in generating facilities. Recently, plans have been announced in the States for repowering or retrofitting facilities to be powered with wood pellet fuel. However, many of these projects are currently on hold or have even been completely abandoned due to pending EPA regulations. To date, only co-firing with pellets tests have been conducted within the US.

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