Advanced product testing
Reliable results
Enviva primarily exports wood pellets to power plants that were previously fueled by coal. It is critical to accurately predict their energy content to meet the specific and varied needs of our customers.
Exceeding customer expectations
In various applications
The energy value of a wood pellet is dependent on the species of wood used—for example, pine has more energy than hardwood—as well as which part of the tree is used. Because Enviva sources from a wide variety of raw materials, we are committed to extensive modeling and testing to predict pellet behavior and energy content. Our sophisticated models account for moisture content, ash content, species mix, tree part mix, and seasonal shifts. Calorimeters track the energy content of both raw materials and finished pellets, as well as the effects of different manufacturing settings.
Flexible, versatile, and baseload
An on-demand resource
In addition to quality control, the ability to predict the exact energy content of our products allows us to reliably forecast sales for our customers. What’s more, it provides our customers a reliable source of energy that complements the intermittency of wind and solar energy. This makes biomass the only renewable resource that can operate in a predictive model.
Biomass plays a key role in replacing fossil fuels and is an important component in the renewable energy mix, complementing other intermittent green energy sources such as wind, solar, and hydro power. Moreover, it is baseload energy and dispatchable: supplied and used on demand when it is needed. Additionally, existing coal plants can be converted to biomass relatively fast and cost-effectively.
