Aug 10 2010
Enviva LP (“Enviva”), a leading manufacturer of wood pellets and processed biomass fuel in the United States and Europe, announced today it has acquired CKS Energy Inc, a privately held company that manufactures wood pellets for industrial, commercial and residential uses.
Based in Amory, Mississippi, CKS is one of the few US-based companies with a successful track record of manufacturing and exporting sustainable, high-quality wood pellet biomass fuel for utility customers, many of whom are based in Europe where the use of wood pellets is well integrated into all areas of the energy sector.
“As we continue to increase our US manufacturing footprint, we are particularly excited about this acquisition. Strategically, CKS is an excellent fit, providing Enviva with a robust and stable fiber supply chain and easy access both to our key European customers as well as to customers in the upper Midwest,” Enviva Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John Keppler said. “Through this acquisition we look forward to increasing our production of sustainably manufactured wood pellets to meet increasing demand from utilities, power companies, businesses and consumers in Europe and the United States.”
In the coming months, Enviva intends to hire additional staff for the facility, which will be known as Enviva Pellets™ Amory, and expand its production from a current capacity of approximately 50,000 tons to over 100,000 tons a year. The facility will primarily service Enviva’s long-term European customers, and raw biomass materials will be sourced locally. Enviva’s environmental, safety, and forestry staff, at the forefront of best practices in sustainable harvesting, ensures that all biomass resources are procured according to internationally recognized third-party certification standards, such as SFI or FSC.