PB Community Impact Fund provided $8 million of New Market Tax Credit allocation to finance the construction of the world's largest wood pellet plant located on the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway in Epes, Alabama. The new facility will be located at the former Mannington Mills wood flooring plant in Epes, Alabama that was shuttered and laid off 150 employees, causing severe economic distress in the impoverished rural community.

 

The Project will create 100 fulltime jobs upon stabilization, 100% of which will receive a living wage and not require a college degree. Additionally, roughly 77% of the positions are expected to be held by persons who live in a low-income census tract. All positions will come equipped with a benefit package that includes paid time off, health insurance, dental and vision insurance, disability insurance, life insurance, and bonus eligibility.  Enviva will also partner with Alabama Industrial Development Training and the University of West Alabama to hire local employees. Enviva is also working with the University of West Alabama to provide upfront and ongoing training to help with the career advancement of lower level employees.

 

Additionally, the Project is expected to spend $80,000,000 annually on services and purchases from local trucking, logging, and other supporting industries. 

 

Enviva is the largest producer of industrial wood pellets, a renewable energy alternative to fossil fuels. Enviva's sustainable wood pellets are designed to provide consistent, reliable results for a wide range of heat- and power-generating customers. 

 

The Project will develop a centralized facility in which Enviva will purchase and process softwood and mill residuals sourced from within a 75-mile radius of the Project site. The final wood pellet products will then be transported by barge along the Tennessee-Tombigbee River to Enviva's newly opened terminal at the Port of Pascagoula, Mississippi for export globally. The initial projections indicate the Project’s capacity will begin at 750,000 metric tons of wood pellets per year with the potential to expand up to 1.15 million metric tons annually. 

 

Enviva estimates that the quantity of coal to be displaced annually by wood pellets produced by the Project is approximately 508,024 metric tons of subbituminous coal.

 

Enviva will only source wood from a supplier when: a) the forest source will be replanted or regrown as forests and will not be converted to non-forest uses; b) water quality in a harvest area is protected through adherence with forestry Best Management Practices (BMPs) (or equivalent practices outside the U.S.); and c) High Conservation Values (HCVs) are not threatened by harvest activities.