Enviva Holdings LP, Bethesda, Md., USA, the world’s largest producer of industrial wood pellets, this week announced that through its previously announced joint venture, Enviva JV Development Co., it has completed the acquisition of a wood pellet production plant in Greenwood, S.C., and related assets from The Navigator Company, S.A., a Portuguese paper and pulp company. This acquisition is the first investment by the new joint venture, which was recently created by Enviva to acquire, develop, and construct wood pellet production plants and deep-water marine terminals in the Southeastern U.S.

The Greenwood plant, which is strategically located in a deep natural resource basin, employs nearly 80 full-time employees. Enviva intends to make investments in the Greenwood plant to improve its operational efficiency and add additional emissions control equipment that the company expects will increase its production capacity to 600,000 metric tons of wood pellets per year by 2019, subject to receiving the necessary permits.

"Enviva is very excited to formally welcome the Greenwood team to the Enviva family," said Royal Smith, Enviva’s EVP of operations. "Together, we look forward to growing this facility in partnership with the Greenwood community and our sustainable supply chain that includes forest landowners, loggers, truckers, and the mechanical, and other service providers essential to keeping a world-class manufacturing operation running smoothly."

"The Greenwood plant is an ideal addition to our portfolio of manufacturing and export terminal facilities, and we are excited to formally welcome this team to the Enviva family," said John Keppler, chairman and CEO of Enviva. "This latest investment is a testament to the strength of the global biomass market and will ensure Enviva is well positioned to meet its long-term contracted demand from customers seeking renewable energy alternatives to coal in Europe and Asia."

In a note sent to Enviva, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham said that "I welcome Enviva into the South Carolina family of manufacturers and look forward to growing our mutually beneficial relationship in the years to come. Greenwood has a strong manufacturing base, a wonderful quality of life, and is a great place to do business."

Enviva’s combined plant operations now include seven manufacturing sites in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Mississippi, and Florida, with an eighth under construction in Richmond County, N.C. In total, these facilities will represent more than 4 million metric tons of wood pellet production capacity on an annual basis.

Enviva Holdings is the world’s largest producer of industrial wood pellets, a renewable and sustainable energy source used to generate electricity and heat. Through its subsidiaries, Enviva Holdings owns and operates wood pellet processing plants and deep-water export terminals in the Southeastern U.S. It exports pellets primarily to power plants in the U.K. and Europe that previously were fueled by coal, enabling them to reduce their lifetime carbon footprint by about 80%t. Enviva makes its pellets using sustainable practices that protect Southern forests and employ about 680 people and support many other businesses in the rural South, where jobs and economic opportunity are sometimes scarce. Enviva Holdings, LP conducts its activities primarily through two entities: Enviva Partners, a publicly-traded master limited partnership, and Enviva Development Holdings, a wholly owned private company. To learn more about Enviva Partners, visit its website.