The characteristics of wood pellet market in the NETHERLANDS
Wood pellet markets in Europe vary greatly, thus making them quickly developing. As for Netherlands there are some particular characteristics:
• Only limited quantity of wood pellets manufacturers have weak manufacturing capacity: 130,000 tons in total. The only restriction for industry further development lies in the fact of supply shortage as most sawmills remnants are sent for their further usage in Belgian particle industry or in Dutch rapidly developing dairy sector.
• Limited market possibility for domestic heating usage which mainly occurs due to shortage of governmental support for residential pellet boilers usage, the presence of natural gas grid, which covers all country and improved natural gas boilers, and limited space for wood pellets storage in the houses of casual Dutch house
• Significant necessity of wood pellets co-fired at power plants where the coal is used. Such necessity prompted the increase of wood pellets consumption from 200,000 tons in 2002 to more than 900,000 tons in the year of 2008. Such demand is explained by so called MEP feed- in premium usage, which was popular in 2003-2006, subsidizing about 6-7 €ct per kWh electricity, which had been generated from clean woody biomass.
• Uncertain governmental support of this domain is the principle barrier for sector further development. Taking into account actual long – term grants, expiring at 2012- 2015 (sourced from 2003-2006 governmental obligations), the industry experts forecast more or less stable wood pellets usage until 2012.
Experts make the conclusion that utility companies in Netherlands successfully use big amounts f wood pellets for co- firing process, by thus performing Netherlands national plan for renewable electricity.
In future Netherlands government officials tend to fix biomass steady manufacturing: solid biomass, used for electricity generation, and liquid biomass manufacturing for its’ further usage in form of fuel for transport. The information provided above gives the possibility to make conclusion that wood pellets industry is developing in accordance with Dutch Cramer sustainability criteria standards, which may be implemented in 2010, and serve as a source for new subsidy schemes development, in other words – wood pellets users will have to confirm that wood pellets are steadily manufactured.
Netherlands plan to become principal center of solid and liquid bio energy trade. Netherlands ports have already sold more than a million tons of wood pellets as per the year 2008. In order to continue the work in this direction the ports require specific loading and unloading equipment together with improved pre – processing technologies. Wood pellets torrefaction may become of the technological solutions facilitation energy – efficient long distant transportation.
