Economics

Energy demand for wood pelleting (including all stages from reception of raw material to packing) is generally comprised in the range of 80 - 150 kWh/t for electricity and around 950 kWh of heat per ton of water to be vaporised. Thus, the exact energy demand depends on the production conditions: initial particle size, moisture content, technology used and plant scale.

Estimated energy demand for pellet production
General production framework:

Within this framework, the total energy consumption can be estimated at: 1,140 kWh/t pellets

Source: Obernberger

Production costs range between 60 and 110 euros per tonne. Thek and Obernberger analysed the pellet production costs in Austria and Sweden in 2002. Nine plants were investigated, for which production ranged from 430 to 79,000 ton /year, and the variation of the annual full load operating hours ranged from 615 to 8,000 hours per annum. Results showed that production costs are mainly influenced by the raw material costs and, in case of using wet raw materials, by the drying costs. Depending on the operative conditions, those two parameters can cause up to one third of the total pellet production costs. Pellet production costs were found to vary between 79 and 101 euros/t if raw material was wet, and between 52 and 81 euros/t if raw material was dry.

• Raw material cost:16 EUR/t
• 8,000 operating hours per year
• Pellet output: 24,000 tons per year
• Shift work (3 shifts per day)
• Electricity price: 73 EUR/MWh
• Heat price (steam): 18 EUR/MWh

Within this framework, the total production costs can be estimated at 94 EUR/t pellets.

Source: Obernberger

Applications

Pellets can be used in small-scale devices (domestic stoves or boilers), medium scale applications (e.g. district heating) as well as in large-scale CHP or power plants. For more details, report to the "Combustion" section in this site.

Standards

Standardisation is a key issue to guarantee the product quality and gain market confidence. To date, only a limited number of European (Austria, Sweden and Germany) have official standards specifically for compacted biomass fuels. In some other countries, quality charts can be voluntarily subscribed by market actors (France, UK). Other countries with vital pellet markets like Denmark and Finland have decided to wait for the completion of the European pellets standard included in the Standard for solid biomass fuels CEN/TC 335. For the precise content of the norms, please refer to the Pellets for Europe webpage.

• 8,000 operating hours per year
• Pellet output: 24,000 tons per year
• Power installed: 560 kW
• eat demand: 950 kWh/ton vaporized water
• Drying raw material from a water content of 55 to 10 wt.% (w.b.)

European market

At the European level, approximately 3 million tonnes of pellets are consumed every year. The two biggest producers, consumers and importers of wood pellets are Sweden and Denmark. Pellets prices are relatively stable, and usually vary between 150 and 200 EUR/ton (bulk delivery, VAT included) according the country considered. Retail prices are higher, in the region of 200-250 EUR/ton.

Logistics

Pellets are usually stored in closed rooms or silos. By their form, pellets are a pourable fuel which can be transported just like a liquid, such as oil: pellets can be supplied by tank lorry and pumped into the pellet tank by means of a fuel hose. Then, from the fuel tank, they can be automatically fed to a combustion unit by screw or piston charging.

Sources: pellx.nu, Froling

More information about pellets

Pellets for Europe website http://www.pelletcentre.info/

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