Forest Fire Deadwood Creates Opportunity for Two Global Biofuel Production Sites in Northern Alberta

(PowerWood Canada/Globe Newswire) PowerWood Canada Corp cites 500 jobs to be created with introduction of Canada’s first ‘steam explosion’ pellet production facilities, while reducing wildfire threats and producing industry’s most viable low-carbon replacement for coal

PowerWood Canada Corp. (“the Company”), headquartered in Calgary, is pleased to announce that it is progressing with plans to build two facilities in Northern Alberta which will convert forest fire deadwood into biofuel used to replace coal in Japanese power plants.

The company will manufacture ‘black pellets’ from the region’s fire damaged timber when it completes its first ‘Peace River’ facility on 65 acres of prepared land near La Crete, Mackenzie Country – with construction slated to commence in the spring of 2026 and the creation of up to 290 new jobs anticipated through its construction, operation and supply chain.

“We will be using tried-and-tested steam explosion method for converting this firewood into black pellets by the end of 2026 with potential buyers in Japan already expressing interest in purchasing these pellets for use in their power plants,” said PowerWood Canada Corp.’s CEO David Peters.

“We’re immensely proud to be working alongside local businesses and our indigenous partners in harvesting this firewood, helping address the wildfire threat in the area, and at the same time producing a truly viable low-carbon direct ‘drop-in’ replacement for coal.”

The facilities will also see the introduction of Canada’s first steam explosion pellet production process – developed by leading industrial systems engineers Valmet and capable of producing black wood biofuel pellets with 94% less carbon release than coal. Three black pellet plants using the steam explosion method are currently operating in France, Norway and Malaysia with additional plants under construction in both Europe and Asia.

PowerWood Canada Corp. plans to open a second Alberta plant and has developed expansion plans for further plants in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Construction of the ‘Peace River’ facility will be undertaken by WB MelBack Corp., and followed by the company’s construction of its second pellet plant, to be located near the Mackenzie County town of High Level, 90km Northwest of La Crete. PowerWood Canada Corp.’s ‘Alberta pellet project’ is expected to create more than 500 new jobs across the company’s entire supply chain.

Once operational, planned by the first quarter of 2027, PowerWood Canada Corp.’s ‘Peace River’ plant will have a production capacity of 350,000 tons of black biofuel pellets per annum, using a feedstock of only native dead fire-damaged timber, diseased trees and forest floor debris – to protect Alberta’s boreal carbon sink and create forest ‘fuel breaks’ that inhibit the spread of local wildfires.

PowerWood Canada Corp. has secured long term renewable Crown forestry licenses to source raw materials from millions of hectares of Albertan forest containing a 15–20-year supply of fire damaged timber. The company has agreed terms with a major Fortune 500 A-rated Japanese buyer for 100% of offtake produced at its Peace River pellet plant, on a long-term take or pay basis.

The installation of PowerWood Canada Corp.’s inaugural production facility is planned to coincide with the company’s public listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) planned for 2026.

PowerWood Canada Corp is a subsidiary of UK-based CoAlternative Energy Ltd., based in Calgary’s Canada Trust Tower (T2P 4K9), AB, and producers of best-in-class 2nd generation black biofuel pellets that serve as an ultra-low-carbon ‘drop in’ replacement for coal burned in the world’s power stations, steel mills and industrial factories. Laboratory tests show, when ignited, its premium black biomass pellets release 87.5% of the energy of coal while producing 94% less carbon dioxide than coal. To date, it has invested CAD$40m of seed funding capital in its Alberta Pellet project, raised from founders and shareholders.

Valmet BioTrac’s steam explosion process differs from torrefaction by exposing raw cellulosic materials under pressure to 240°C steam, to release its acetic acid, break down fibre cell walls and expel sugars (to be converted into biochemical byproduct furfural). A sudden drop in pressure and expulsion from BioTrac’s reactor chamber granulates the isolated organic matter for heat-drying and compression into highly-compact, energy-dense black biofuel pellets. READ MORE