Canadian Biomass Magazine

Active Energy acquires CoalSwitch production facility in North Carolina

March 27, 2019
By Maria Church

March 27, 2019 - UK-based Active Energy announced today it has completed the acquisition of a production facility in Lumberton, N.C., for its biomass-based fuel, CoalSwitch. The industrial site will become the new base for its CoalSwitch operations in the U.S, the company stated.


The site includes a 415,000 square-foot covered factory space and around 151 acres of surrounding land, bought from Alamac Holdings LLC for US$3.33 million. 

According to the company’s website, the Lumberton facility will initially operate a five-tonne per hour plant, and will ramp up to a 10-tonne per hour production capacity in the near term. The plant is expected to increase to a total production capacity of 50 tonnes per hour or 400,000 tonnes of CoalSwitch per year.

“We continue to make progress on delivering our first commercial CoalSwitch product to market, which is now our main focus,” Michael Rowan, Active Energy Chief Executive said in a news release in early March. “The acquisition of the Lumberton site is part of this strategy.

“Lumberton gives AEG an ideal base in the heart of the lumber production region in North America and the facility is adjacent to the facility owned by our JV partner Georgia Renewable Power LLC. In addition, the site provides the foundation of our onward expansion in the region as the site benefits from proximal access to the Eastern Seaboard of the United States, ensuring AEG is connected to established export routes for sales to Europe and South East Asia. Our focus is now on installing the initial five tonne per hour CoalSwitch plant at the Lumberton Site, utilizing existing equipment and facilities from our existing site in Utah, together with support from our partners, Andritz Group, the international engineering group. We believe AEG’s relationships with both Andritz and GRP, together with the acquisition, can transform the company’s business. We now look forward to providing updates as development accelerates at the Lumberton site and we look to establish first production and sales of CoalSwitch in the coming months.”

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In November, Active Energy’s subsidiary Timberlands International received two five-year commercial cutting permits in Newfoundland with the goal of supporting the operation of a new $19.7-million CoalSwitch pellet plant in Hawke’s Bay, N.L. 


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