« Ports terminal operators. “We should be in position to go to construction some time during the first quarter of next year,” says Moeller. Though the Port of Pascagoula is the largest seaport in Mississippi and over 35 million tons of cargo move through the port annually, wood pellets have not been part of that load, he adds. “It’s a new project, and we’re excited and looking forward to getting it off the ground.” Port of Greater Baton Rouge • 230 miles from the Gulf of Mexico on the Mississippi River at the junction of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. • Ranks No. 13 among the top ports in the nation; 32nd in the world in total tonnage annually. • Channel depth of 45 feet. • Overall annual tonnage of 83.1 million. • Five berths, 3,000 feet of wharf frontage.
22 PELLET MILL MAGAZINE | Q3 2013
Port of Greater Baton Rouge At the end of 2012, Drax Biomass announced intentions to build two pellet manufacturing plants in Louisiana and Mississippi, as well as a port storage and loading facility at the Port of Greater Baton Rouge. The combined capacity of the new manufacturing facilities, Amite BioEnergy in Gloster, Miss., and Morehouse BioEnergy in Morehouse Parish, La., will equate to 900,000 metric tons of biomass pellets annually. Drax is locating its port-side storage and loading facility on property leased from the Port of Greater Baton Rouge, which will have the capacity to store approximately 80,000 metric tons of biomass pellets. The facility will be designed to accommodate delivery of pellets by rail and truck and is expected to be operational in 2014. Construction contracts have been concluded for the pellet plants, according to Drax public affairs specialist Melanie Wedgbury. “We have now broken ground and construction is now underway at both sites,” she says. “Construction of the port facility is also now underway.” Wedgbury says Drax is targeting the first quarter of 2015 for the start of commercial operations at Amite and Baton Rouge and the second quarter for Morehouse, with full capacity reached six months later. Also focusing on the Port of Greater Baton Rouge and moving forward with plans to build a plant in Port Allen, La., is Biomass Secure Power. CEO Jim Carroll says the detailed engineering scopes for the bidding process are expected to be released in early October, with construction commencing in December. “Phase 1 of the Baton Rouge project will consist of three operating lines capable of producing 340,000 metric tons of wood pellets each,” he says. BSP also plans to build a chipping plant on 50-acre site at the Port of Natchitoches. Wood chips from the plant will be transferred by barge to