Despite a rough go of things in 2016, Jerry Ericsson, CEO of Diacarbon Energy, is hopeful that the new year will be one of the best ever for the wood pellet manufacturer.

Ericsson has a couple reasons for optimism. First, the company now has a timeline for resuming operations, after a fire gutted the industrial dryer on the property on Thanksgiving Day in October of last year.

Though the cause of the fire was never determined, Ericsson said Diacarbon’s insurance providers were extremely co-operative throughout the process. He said he anticipates the plant resuming operation — that is, the manufacturing of wood pellets from sawdust, which are then used as a fuel source — in June.

“Right now, the dryer is being built in Germany. It’ll be done sometime in April, takes about three or four weeks to get here, [and then] three or four weeks to set up,” explained Ericsson. “The day after that, we’re going to be running.”

A fire in the dryer at the Diacarbon plant on Thanksgiving Day last year kept the facility out of operation over the winter. (Cole Wagner/Herald).

A fire in the dryer at the Diacarbon plant on Thanksgiving Day last year kept the facility out of operation over the winter. (Cole Wagner/Herald).

The return to operations in June will also mean that the staff who had been working at the pellet manufacturing plant — around 40 people, said Ericsson — will be back to work.

Another reason for Ericsson’s enthusiasm: the company will resume working on a torrefaction plant which, once operational, will produce a much more energy-dense and hot-burning “black” pellets from the sawdust.

The advantage to the “black” pellets is that they can be used as a substitute in industries which use coal to produce heat — such as in the production of cement.

Torrefaction technology is the bedrock of what Diacarbon was founded upon, said Ericsson, but when an opportunity presented itself to purchase the Highland Pellet plant in Merritt, the company shifted gears to take advantage of the potential capacity of the site.

After purchasing the site in 2014, and doing a number of technical upgrades on site, Diacarbon began to expand the plant’s raw output of “white” pellets.

One of three pellet presses used at the Diacarbon plant. These presses produce the traditional "white" pellet. (Cole Wagner/Herald).

One of three pellet presses used at the Diacarbon plant. These presses produce the traditional “white” pellet. (Cole Wagner/Herald).

“We have this white pellet plant, and it’s not meant to be risky. It’s sort of a ‘build it, and you can run it.’ Then we have our technology,” said Ericsson. “It’s a good idea to have a cash stream while you’re developing something new, because then you’re not dependent on [the technology].”

The company quickly doubled the output of the plant’s previous owners, and then continued to increase the amount of “white” pellets being produced on site by adding a third pellet press to the operation.

Whereas the plant once produced less than 1,000 tonnes of pellets during the course of its operation as the Highland Pellet plant.

Under Diacarbon’s management, the plant will be producing around 60,000 tonnes of the “white” pellets annually, once production restarts in June.

Once the torrefaction plant comes online, Ericsson said he expects to add 40,000 tonnes of “black” pellet production to the plant’s capacity.