Case study

USA Southeast — pellet plant to shovel-ready

Development of a proposed 300,000 t/y wood-pellet facility in Washington, Georgia, taking the chain from pine fibre catchment and site selection through rail, port, shipping, permitting, GHG analysis and execution-ready commercial workstreams.

Rail spur into proposed Southeast US pellet plant site earthworks.
Proposed pellet plant site with rail-spur access into the development area.
At a glance
300,000 t/y
proposed pellet capacity
Washington, Georgia
rail-served project site
58 acres
development site
Feedstock to port
integrated chain

Challenge

Build a bankable Southeast US wood-pellet project from first principles: prove the fibre catchment, secure a suitable industrial site, define the rail and port pathway, complete environmental and permitting work, and assemble the technical, commercial and logistics package needed for final investment decision.

What we did

  • Assessed the Georgia pine fibre catchment and raw-material mix, including clean chips, whole-tree chips, shavings, sawdust and dryer fuel.
  • Advanced a 58-acre Washington, Georgia site with rail-spur access and a route to export port.
  • Developed the site, rail-spur and plant-interface concept for a 300,000 t/y pellet facility.
  • Built the rail-to-port logistics pathway, including rail-car requirements, port handling and onward ocean-freight assumptions.
  • Progressed environmental due diligence, clean-air permitting, GHG analysis and sustainability assessment.
  • Advanced commercial workstreams across feedstock supply, EPC, rail, port handling and shipping.
In-field pine log chipping operation in Georgia.
In-field chipping operation within the Southeast US pine fibre catchment.
Forestry machine forwarding harvested pine in Georgia.
Active pine harvesting and forwarding in the Georgia feedstock catchment.
Stacks of harvested pine logs in Georgia.
Harvested pine logs staged as part of the project feedstock pathway.

Key results

  • Proposed 300,000 t/y pellet facility developed to shovel-ready / approval-ready status.
  • 58-acre rail-served site advanced as the preferred development location.
  • Fibre supply, rail, port, shipping and receiving-port logistics defined as an integrated chain.
  • Environmental and permitting workstreams advanced to support execution.
  • Contract workstreams progressed across the full feedstock-to-port chain.
  • Project blueprint remained reusable even though the development was paused before construction.
Rail-spur infrastructure forming part of the plant-to-port logistics route.
Rail-spur infrastructure forming part of the plant-to-port logistics route.

Outcome

A complete development blueprint for an industrial Southeast US wood-pellet plant: feedstock, site, rail, port, shipping, EPC, permitting, GHG analysis, sustainability assessment and commercial execution pathway. The plant was not built, but the work created an approval-ready package and a repeatable model for future biomass infrastructure development.

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