Changes to global supply chains brought on by the crisis in Ukraine, as well as increased demand across Europe, have seen United Kingdom producers and suppliers urgently switch to alternative sources of imported wood pellets.<\/p>\n
Changes to global supply chains brought on by the crisis in Ukraine, as well as increased demand across Europe, have seen United Kingdom producers and suppliers urgently switch to alternative sources of imported wood pellets to ensure minimal impact on the biomass heating market, a sector that currently sees U.K. demand for premium grade wood pellets reaching 600,000 tons per annum.<\/p>\n
The UK Pellet Council, a trade body representing the premium wood pellet heating sector\u2014a niche and separate industry to the biomass power market\u2014is now forging new partnerships with worldwide suppliers to plug an immediate pellet shortfall of 200,000 tons per annum, previously sourced from Siberia but ceased following its EN Plus certification suspension.<\/p>\n
This has created new opportunities for existing pellet suppliers from the Baltics and the Iberian Peninsula to increase exports (and months ago, were shipping approximately 150,000 tons annually to the U.K.), and potentially, North and South America producers, too, should an excess of premium grade inventory exist.<\/p>\n
UKPC and its members are now looking for alternative wood pellet producers and competitive supply routes, all working under the EN Plus A1 accreditation scheme or equivalent quality standards. According to UKPC, the UK pellet market needs to respond to (and accommodate) a short-term issue brought on by the crisis in Ukraine, and whilst overall heating demand is beginning to reduce as we head into the warmer summer months, the new supply chains must now be established in order to prevent any possible shortfall across the whole of Europe next winter. With up to 55% of the UK's annual demand sourced from imports, the knock-on effect would be huge.<\/p>\n
The U.K. is home to many strategic ports located up and down the coastline, with several regions already receiving regular wood pellet shipments via dedicated fuel handling facilities. Storage options may be lower than other European countries at present, but companies operating within the biomass heating market take regular shipments of one-ton bulk bags (25 per container) to 3,000- to 5,000-ton-plus bulk pellet consignments.<\/p>\n
The UK pellet sector has continuously developed over the past 10 years, being very much supported by the domestic and nondomestic Renewable Heat Incentive scheme. While this has ended, it has meant a seven-year subsidy for domestic heating and 20 years for commercial users based on metered heat use. This ensured that high-quality wood pellets remained competitive against fossil fuels.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Changes to global supply chains brought on by the crisis in Ukraine, as well as increased demand across Europe, have seen United Kingdom producers and suppliers urgently switch to alternative sources of imported wood pellets. Changes to global supply chains … Continue reading