New export contract, new production facility bodes well for shipment levels for Pinnacle Energy Terminal in Prince Rupert

With over 1.3 million tonnes shipped out of Prince Rupert as of
November 2020 .The year ahead looks promising for Pinnacle Energy

Pinnacle Renewable Energy is starting 2021 off with some positive news, with a new production facility coming on line in Alberta and a new Asian export contract to send their energy pellets to global markets.

The new production facility was opened in late 2020 at High Level Alberta, a partnership between Pinnacle and Tolko Industries, it has a capacity of 200,000 metric tons of energy pellets per year and is anticipated to be at full production later this year.

"We are pleased to have achieved this milestone at High Level. The Mill has exceeded expectations through its first two weeks of operations, largely due to the effective collaboration between our capital projects and operations groups as well as the strong working relationship with Tolko that has existed since our first joint investment at Lavington, BC, in 2015,"  -- Duncan Davies, CEO of Pinnacle. 

The High Level production facility along with one under construction at Demopolis, Alabama will increase Pinnacle's overall production capacity by almost 25% to 2.8 million metric tons per annum, that will increase the production located outside of B.C. to approximately 44%."

The most recent export contract was announced yesterday with Pinnacle extending a long term contract with Mitsubishi Corporation in Japan, which will see the British Columbia based energy company to supply 80,000 to 90,000 metric tons of industrial wood pellets to Mitsubishi per annum, with the contract extension to begin in the first quarter of 2023.

"We are excited to grow our business with our Asian customers. We have developed a special relationship with Japan and we share their strong commitment to decarbonization and their replacement of fossil fuels with sustainable wood pellets." -- Duncan Davies, Chief Executive Officer of Pinnacle. 

Wood pellet usage in Japan has continued to grow alongside the build-out of biomass generating capacity there, providing Pinnacle with a geographically advantaged opportunity to continue expanding in this market.

Much of Pinnacle's exports depart from their Prince Rupert Westview Export terminal, the most recent data available from the Prince Rupert Port Authority shows that as of November of 2020, over 1.3 million tonnes of product had been shipped out of the Westview facility on the Prince Rupert waterfront.

More notes on the Pinnacle Terminal in Prince Rupert can be explored from our archive page here.