The Canadian pellet producer Pinnacle Renewable Energy has started operations at Williams Lake facility after months of capital upgrades. One of the main ones was equipment that can process wetter fibre. Instead of primarily relying on the shavings and sawdust of sawmills, the Williams Lake facility can also process up to 80,000 additional tonnes of the woody debris left behind after logging. According to Pinnacle, this material is typically burned in brush piles, but this upgrade turns the facility into even more of a recycling centre for bioenergy. The Williams Lake facility can now utilise marginal, damaged, and dead wood, and can process wood impacted by fire. The facility’s upgraded dryer system will also allow for lower emission concentrations and a reduced risk of haze, as well as reducing over-drying.
Together with the work undertaken in Quesnel on Pinnacle’s Meadowbank facility, the company has invested close to $ 30 million (€19.7 million) in this region over the past year.