2017 International Forest Industries Magazines June July 2017 | Page 15
LOGGING & BIOMASS NEWS
Wide Bay supply chain exporting timber biofuel
A simple conveyor belt joins Hyne Timber’s Tuan
Mill and neighbouring Altus Renewables. Such
is the way for efficient transformation on one
plant’s sustainable by-product into another
plant’s core business being biofuel.
It is certainly not unusual for large scale
plantation softwood processing plants to exist
as part of a supply chain hub and while each
one of these hubs are unique, the manufacture
of timber biofuel for clean, renewable energy
production is common place.
In this case, the timber by-product is
compressed through a manufacturing process
of its own into small pellets which are highly
sought after in Japan and some European
countries to fuel clean energy production in what
were once entirely coal fuelled power stations.
David Knight, Plant Manager of the Altus
Renewables’ 100,000 MT capacity pellet facility
next to Hyne Timber near Maryborough said
their customers want durable pellets with high
calorific value.
“We essentially buy all the sawdust and
shavings we can get from over the fence at Hyne
Timber.
“Our plant then densifies the wood by-
product including drying the timber to maximise
fuel quality while making transport significantly
more cost efficient.
“Pellets are transported to the Bundaberg
Port by trucks where they are stored in a
dedicated building prior to being shipped to
customers in Europe and Japan who will co-fire
the pellets in their coal-fired power stations.
“Well, at least that’s about 95% of our
plants pellets. The other 5% service domestic
customers ranging from equestrian bedding,
kitty litter to home heating solutions.
“The latter continues to gain popularity in
colder climates for the high heat, high efficiency
with little ash and fumes, if any. Some heater
systems reburn their own fumes for added
efficiency and environmental benefits.” Mr
Knight said.
With products being shipped off overseas
or bagged up for other domestic market needs,
it’s hardly surprising that many locals don’t
know these two operations exist in the forest,
collectively employing around 200 people
directly, and hundreds more indirectly.
David joked that he is often asked what he
does for a living and when he replies, “we make
pellets”, people assume they make timber
pallets for transportation.
“Now, I tell people we make biofuel from
timber. I might still have to explain that, but it
makes for a more interesting conversation.” Mr
Knight concluded.
Hyne Timber was established in Maryborough
in 1882 with the Tuan Mill, now one of the largest
softwood processing plants in the Southern
Hemisphere, established in 1985.
The company employs around 570 people,
300 of whom are in the Fraser Coast Region
alone, a region faced with higher than average
unemployment rates.
Altus Renewables, headquartered in
Loganholme, QLD is also in the process of
working on a new 500,000 MT pellet plant
project in the Green Triangle in South Australia.
The plant near Maryborough is an example of
Advanced Manufacturing, operating a clean, lean
process supported by robotics and technology.
Both Hyne Timber and Altus Renewables also
fuel their own heat plants using timber biomass
from sawdust or timber shavings.
JENZ stationary
technology
Quality woodchippings
for various purposes
JENZ GmbH Maschinen- und Fahrzeugbau
Wegholmer Str. 14 ∙ 32469 Petershagen ∙ Germany
+49 5704 / 94090 ∙ [email protected] ∙ www.jenz.de
International Forest Industries | JUNE / JULY 2017 11