Enviva Holds Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony for the World’s Largest Pellet Plant in Lucedale, Mississippi

Dozens of state and local elected officials joined Maryland-based Enviva Biomass at a ribbon cutting ceremony on Friday (9-30-22) in Lucedale, Mississippi, as the world’s largest wood pellet plant reached near full operational capacity level. The Lucedale plant’s current capacity is 750,000 metric tons per year, but the company plans on increasing that to 1 million metric tons next year.

Most of the softwood timber and paper mill residuals used to make the pellets are being sourced from areas within 75 miles of the Lucedale plant. Most of the pellets made in Lucedale will be shipped to power plants in Europe and Asia, as an alternative to coal with fewer carbon emissions.

Enviva Biomass operates ten plants throughout the southeast that produce 6.2 million metric tons of wood pellets annually. Enviva is the world’s largest producer of industrial-grade wood pellets with plans to double production capacity over the next five years to 13 million metric tons.

In April of this year, Enviva announced plans to build its fourth Mississippi plant in neighboring Stone County. There is also another plant under construction in Sumter County, Alabama. Once operational, the Sumter plant’s 1.1 million metric tons per year capacity will make it the world’s largest pellet plant, moving the Lucedale plant to second largest in the world.