Dear Stakeholder:
Drax manufactures compressed wood pellets produced from sustainably managed working forests. Drax owns and operates seven wood pellet manufacturing plants in the US South: Amite Bioenergy in Gloster, Mississippi, Morehouse Bioenergy near Bastrop, Louisiana, and LaSalle Bioenergy near Urania, Louisiana, Arkansas Bioenergy Leola (Leola AR), Arkansas Bioenergy Russellville (Russellville AR), Alabama Pellets Aliceville (Aliceville AL), and Alabama Pellets Demopolis (Demopolis AL). The AL Pellet operations were added to Drax’s portfolio in 2021 following the acquisition of Pinnacle Renewable Energy.
The compressed wood pellets produced by Drax are derived from low-grade roundwood, forest residuals, and sawmill residuals. Pellets are transported by train, truck, and barge, then loaded onto ships at either the port of Baton Rouge or Mobile AL. Most of the pellet are shipped to the UK where they are used at the Drax Power Station to generate flexible, renewable power for UK homes and businesses. The use of sustainably sourced wood pellets is a part of Drax Group’s strategy to enable a zero-carbon economy and help the UK meet their climate change commitments.
To assure sustainable sourcing, Drax participates in four certification programs: FSC® FSC-C123692 Chain of Custody & Controlled Wood, SFI® SFI-01578 Chain of Custody & Fiber Sourcing, the PEFC/29-31-286 Chain of Custody and the Sustainable Biomass Program (SBP). Underpinning Drax’s sustainability program is SBP’s Supply Base Evaluation which provides a formal framework for the evaluation of potential risks related to forest sourcing.
Alabama Pellets Aliceville (Aliceville AL) and Alabama Pellets Aliceville (Aliceville AL) are in the process of recertifying to the SBP standards. We are specifically seeking input from stakeholders to test if risk evaluations and proposed mitigations remain reasonable for our supply base.
We are reaching out to you and your organization because of your knowledge and interest in the forest landscape and the multitude of benefits it supports. You can find the Supply Base Evaluation document here. Comments can be submitted via email during the period spanning March 26 through April 26, 2024.
Thank you in advance for any feedback you can provide.
Sincerely,
*SFI marks are registered marks owned by the Sustainable Forestry Initiative Inc.
