Drax holds grand opening of pellet plant; looks to the future

While the location of the grand opening and ribbon-cutting may not have been what they wanted, the officials of the new Demopolis industry Drax still had the excitement of introducing themselves to the area Tuesday.

Severe weather forced the event to be moved to the Demopolis Civic Center. Instead of leading tours through the facility, Drax set up stations with employees explaining each step of producing pellets.

Drax is the second pellet plant in Alabama, investing more than $100 million in the new Demopolis plant and employing 60 people. Limited production started in October, and the facility became fully operational in January. It loaded the first barges of pellets for shipment to the United Kingdom this week.

“Demopolis is a key plant for us,” said Matt White, executive vice president of North America Pellet Operations. The company is always looking for ways to become involved in the community, especially in the areas of education, economic development, underprivileged and underserved and the ecological health of the area, he said. “We look for opportunities to give back.”

With that, White presented a $10,000 check to Ashley Coplin, executive director of the Demopolis City Schools Foundation.

Drax has a symbiotic relationship with its neighbor, Two Rivers Lumber Company. It will produce 360,000 tons of biomass pellets each year from sawmill residues such as sawdust, chips and shavings. The pellets then are sent to the UK for use in its own renewable power generator and the largest decarbonization project in Europe. Pellets also are used in other power plants across the continent.

Including its sites in Demopolis and Aliceville, Drax operates seven pellet plants in the South, using biomass from the region’s sustainable managed working forests. Its American headquarters are in Monroe, La.

The Drax Group’s purpose is to enable a zero carbon, lower cost energy future, with the goal of being carbon negative by 2030 using Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) technology.

We need multiple different sources of fuel, said Will Gardiner, CEO of the Drax Group, and, he added, “We’re already looking at how we can expand.”

“They were visionaries,” said Mayor Woody Collins of the Drax Group. Recognizing the company and contractors had major hurdles to overcome during the pandemic, he said, “We make it happen. This is the Alabama spirit.”