B lackwood Technology B.V.’s first commercial-scale black pellet plant in Lampang Province, Thailand, is online and producing at commercial scale.&nbsp;Blackwood, a Dutch renewable energy technology company, focuses on the torrefaction and carbonization of biomass. Where Blackwood differs from other technologies in the industry is in its FlashTor technology, derived from its predecessor, Topell Energy. Topell demonstrated FlashTor’s success at a demo plant in Duiven, the Netherlands, and Blackwood has followed in its footsteps.&nbsp;Pellet Mill Magazine readers may recall the announcement of the plant’s inauguration in summer 2022 by Blackwood and TTCL Public Company Ltd., a Thai engineering, procurement and construction company and Blackwood’s partner for the project. The goal was to demonstrate the value and sustainability of Blackwood’s FlashTor technology at industrial scale, which proved to be successful.Torrefaction, the process of heating woody biomass at 250-320 degrees Celsius with low oxygen to produce high-grade solid biofuels, has many benefits, and CEO Maarten Herrebrugh is confident Blackwood has it down to a science. “Blackwood’s FlashTor technology uses a multistaged reactor system, which allows us to split the process in two steps: first, a heating-up step and second, a torrefaction and carbonization step.” Herrebrugh explains that torrefaction and carbonization result in chemical decomposition reactions that can be volatile. FlashTor’s multistaged system builds in scalability with an optimally controlled process that he says other technologies have lacked.&nbsp;FlashTor also speeds up torrefaction, which is traditionally a tedious and slow process, according to Herrebrugh. Blackwood maintains that the technology is flexible with respect to the particle size and nature of the incoming biomass, which keeps cost down.&nbsp;Black pellets have several benefits over a standard wood pellet, Herrebrugh explains. “The main benefit of black pellets is that it allows power stations and other industrial coal users to replace thermal coal with renewable biomass while using their existing infrastructure,” he says. “The torrefaction process increases the calorific value and grindability of the biomass, which make it suitable for use in pulverized coal infrastructure.”&nbsp;Another benefit of black pellets is the reduced logistics cost, because on a mass or volume basis, a black pellet contains more energy than a traditional pellet. And black pellets are water resistant, so they can be stored outside on the coal yard, Herrebrugh says.Also on Blackwood’s roster are SuperBlack pellets, which Herrebrugh identifies as a key tool in the decarbonization of the steel industry. “When we started with Topell, and later with Blackwood, our focus was the replacement of thermal coal in power stations and industrial boilers. But more recently, we have seen a lot of demand from the steel industry and other base metal producers to replace metallurgical coal with biocarbon,” Herrebrugh explains. “These applications require a more carbonized black pellet.” With a higher fixed carbon level and reduced volatiles, Blackwood believes its Super Black pellets are ready to answer the call.Torrefied Beginnings&nbsp; As Herrebrugh notes, the road to success didn’t come without turmoil. Blackwood’s predecessor, Topell Energy, closed shop in 2014 after Dutch subsidies stopped, which resulted in a significant drop in demand for torrefied biomass. Once a pioneer torrefaction technology company, Topell’s shutdown prompted widespread concerns about a torrefied future.Formed in 2008 and making waves by 2010 with the development of the world’s first commercial-scale torrefaction plant in the Netherlands, Topell represented a future where black pellets replaced coal. “With black pellets produced at [the Netherlands] plant, we conducted successful cofiring tests with European power stations, proving that black pellets can be used as a drop-in fuel replacement for fossil coal in pulverized coal power stations,” Herrebrugh explains.&nbsp;Despite Topell’s demise, the core team still believed in a future for torrefied biomass. This led to the formation of Blackwood Technology, Herrebrugh says. “We proposed to the shareholders of Topell the creation of a new company that would take over all the IP and know-how from Topell in return for a share in the new company,” he says. It worked, and Blackwood rose to the challenge in 2015.As all businesses do, Blackwood had to face the million-dollar question of profitability. “With Blackwood, we didn’t want to raise venture capital. We wanted to generate our own cash flow from engineering assignments, and ultimately, technology licensing agreements,” Herrebrugh says. “Based on the lessons learned from the Topell plant, we designed a second-generation torrefaction technology, which we branded the FlashTor technology.”Blackwood still holds a licensing agreement with Eskom, a South African utility and Blackwood’s first customer, to produce further torrefaction plants.With a strong start in South Africa under its belt, in 2017, Blackwood shifted &nbsp;attention to Japan. “The 20-year feed-in-tariff program for biomass in Japan offered a potentially strong foundation for a black pellet supply chain because it could guarantee investors of torrefaction plants a long-term offtake contract for the product.” But this, as Herrebrugh and black pellet industry veterans will recognize, is easier said than done.Herrebrugh describes the state of the black pellet market as “a classical chicken-and-egg situation; end users were interested in black pellets, but before committing to a long-term offtake contract, they wanted to conduct large-scale cofiring tests that would require an industrial-scale production facility. And in order to fund a project for such a production facility, you would need a long-term offtake contract.”&nbsp;Blackwood quickly found itself looking for potential partners with a focus on Southeast Asia to build such a facility. “Ultimately, our business development efforts resulted in a partnership with TTCL Public Company Ltd., a Thai EPC and investment company with Japanese roots,” alongside which Blackwood built its first FlashTor demonstration plant in Thailand in 2022, and now a commercial torrefaction plant.A Collaborative Mission&nbsp; Blackwood’s success is remarkable, considering the minor success of commercial torrefaction across the board and the industry's slow development pace. “There have been quite a few parties that failed to bring their technology from lab or pilot scale to a viable industrial scale...[and] potential offtakers [are] only willing to sign binding multiyear offtake contracts after testing large quantities of product, which can only be produced by an industrial-scale plant.”Blackwood offers other consumer products that may assist in this gray area: technology licensing, conducting of feasibility studies, torrefaction test programs, and (PRE-) front-end engineering design services. “Big investment projects go through a structured project development process that ultimately results in a final investment decision,” Herre­brugh explains. “Blackwood offers project developers services in each stage of the project’s development.”&nbsp;This is exactly where Blackwood thrives, and its success is reliant on collaboration. “Initially, the driving forces behind the production of industrial wood pellets and interest in black pellets were country-specific programs that supported the cofiring of biomass in power stations. What we now see is that well-functioning carbon credit markets are a strong driver for decarbonization efforts of coal users,” Herrebrugh says. “As Blackwood, we are too small to participate in any policy conversations. Instead, we use our experience with cofiring black pellets in pulverized coal power stations to assist coal users in other industries with conversion from fossil coal to sustainable biocarbon.”&nbsp;Perhaps a more under-the-radar key to Blackwood’s success is its dedication to process conditions, efficiency and flexibility. “We start each new project with reviewing the lessons learned from the previous project. This approach results in a learning curve that brings down capex and opex,” Herrebrugh says. “We have also invested time and money in our capabilities to process lower-cost feedstocks like agro residues. The two plants in Thailand can both process multiple feedstocks like woody biomass as well as corn residues and other agro residues.”&nbsp;Blackwood has also held smaller-scale black pellet tests in residential settings to operate wood pellet stoves, though Herrebrugh notes that true market growth will come from industrial demand. To work toward this, Blackwood is looking internationally. “We are working on several new potential projects in different stages of development in different regions of the world,” Herrebrugh states. “For most of these projects, we will be the technology licensor, [and] for one specific project we are one of the project development partners.”Blackwood’s international interest expands all the way to North America, Herrebrugh says. “In the past, there was no real incentive for [North American] wood pellet producers to consider adding black pellet capacity to their wood pellet plant.”&nbsp;The United States supplies the majority of the EU’s wood pellet demand, which Herrebrugh identifies as a key reason for the lack of interest in black pellets until now. “But the demand for biocarbon from the steel industry is a complete game changer,” Herrebrugh says. “I expect that over the coming years, a sizeable supply base of black pellets will be built in North America, both for export to overseas markets as well as for use locally.”Keeping the Ball Rolling&nbsp; After its recent success, Herrebrugh says Blackwood is looking forward to preparing for growth. “While working on the next projects, we want to start laying the foundation for a global roll-out of our FlashTor technology,” he explains. Work on this growth prep has already begun as a result of the success of Blackwood’s Thailand plant, and good things are on the horizon.Herrebrugh notes that the market has and will be Blackwood’s biggest challenge. “We have solved this by teaming up with TTCL, which has been willing to invest in first a demo plant in Thailand and now in NTBC, the first commercial-scale black pellet plant in Southeast Asia,” he says. New partnerships are also in the works, according to Herrebrugh. “We have always believed in partnerships with strategic players ... we are working on new partnerships that can lead to an accelerated roll-out of our technology, and strengthen our offering and presence in specific regional markets.”&nbsp;Of all of Blackwood’s accomplishments, Herrebrugh cites the development of FlashTor technology “from an idea to a proven industrial scale technology” as his proudest. “Our longer-term goal is to have at least one million [metric] tons of annual black pellet production by our FlashTor technology within the next five years.” Author: Caitlin Scheresky&nbsp; caitlin.scheresky@bbiinternational.com

2025-02-21 - Bullish on Black Pellets (Biomass Magazine)

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After a decade in the torrefaction technology industry and a successfully launched commercial 
black pellet plant in Thailand, Blackwood Technology B.V. is preparing for growth. 

Bullish on Black Pellets

Bullish on Black Pellets

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