Drax Begins Construction on Longview, Washington, Wood Pellet Manufacturing Facility

Drax, under its subsidiary Pinnacle Renewable Holdings, has started building a plant along the Columbia River in Longview, Washington, to manufacture wood pellets for power generation in Asia, The Daily News reported (2-10-24). The site is in close proximity to two large sawmill complexes in the area.

Drax purchased the land from Pacific Lumber and Shipping at the Port of Longview facility for $13.5 million, breaking ground on the 48-acre plot in July 2023. Drax estimates the project will cost the company approximately $250 million to build. While the facility is still in its early phases of development, the company projects it will be up and running by 2025Q1 and add up to 60 jobs.

Laurie Nelson-Cooley, Manager of Business Development for the Port of Longview, told The Daily News that the port has been actively pursuing the wood pellet industry for business partnerships at the port since 2011. “We made Longview a go-to choice for future pellet plants. Pinnacle Renewables, now Drax, saw this potential in 2018.”

Drax operates 11 pellet production facilities in the United States and 13 in Canada. The new Longview facility will only be a wood pellet production facility and will not be generating any electricity onsite. All 11 of the Drax-owned industrial facilities in the United States (Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama) are pellet production only facilities as well.