Ever wondered how wood pellets are produced? Here at Balcas Energy, we wanted to provide you with step-by-step guidance on how we create our locally produced wood pellets.

7 steps to producing Balcas Energy wood pellets

Raw material – High-quality sawmill residues and inferior quality logs not suitable for use as sawn timber.

Initial processing – Reduces particle size and screens out oversized material to improve the efficiency of the drying process.

Drying – Material dries at an air  temperature of +100°C, reducing moisture  content by up to 50%, using heat from our on-site CHP plants

Hammermill – Particle size is further reduced in a dry material hammer mill, ready for pressing into ENplus® A1 quality wood pellets

Pellet press – Raw material is extruded through the pellet forming die at very high pressure. This process draws out the natural lignin in the wood which helps bind the material together.

Cooling and screening – The pellets are cooled from approx. 90°C to less than 40°C. This ensures they are fully hardened. They are then screened to remove all fines, which are then recycled back into the production process. Nothing is wasted

Silos and distribution – We store all pellets in on-site silos, ready for filling our dedicated bulk delivery trucks and 10kg bags. We sample and test all pellets during production and on despatch to guarantee ENplus A1 quality standards.

Balcas Energy’s production and carbon saved

The total pellet production for balcas energy is split between Enniskillen and Invergordon. In Enniskillen, it produces 60,000 tonnes whereas Invergordon produces 120,000 tonnes per annum. From producing our wood fuel in our CHP plants, our timber products lock up 300,000 tonnes of CO2, we generate our green electricity-saving us 37,000 tonnes of CO2, and using our pellets means 250,000 tonnes of CO2 have been saved.

Over the last 10 years, we have:

• Sold more than 2 million tonnes of wood fuel.
• Displaced the equivalent of more than 1 billion litres of imported oil.
• Equating to 3 million tonnes of carbon savings.

Here at Balcas Energy, we are proud to control every aspect of the supply chain from forest to flame and say we are part of the “circular bio-economy”. This guarantees a consistent supply of high-grade wood pellets ensuring our customers are satisfied with their wood pellets.

Purchasing Balcas Energy Wood Pellets

You can purchase up to 8 tonnes by using our online ordering. if you require more, please contact us and a member of our team will place your order on our system.

There is currently a very high demand for our locally produced wood pellets due to a shortage in the market caused by those suppliers that normally import. Many of these imports were previously of Russian origin and are no longer available.

At this time, we do not know how long this shortage will last but we imagine other suppliers will be able to reorganise their supply chains in due course. We currently must prioritise supply to our contracted customers. If you are interested in how you might secure supply for the coming season, please get in touch with a member of our sales team.

If you require more assistance, please check or FAQ section and if your query cannot be resolved, please contact a member of our customer support team.

You can order online 24/7 by visiting our Online Shop: