Belgium develops a lot biomass pellet market

1. Regulatory framework market drives and obstacles
The Green Certificate Scheme (GEC) in Belgium contributed to stimulating the demand for  solid biofuels, including biomass pellets, to generate electricity in (co)combustion, which in Belgium is largely satisfied by pellet imports (1GEC = 1MWhe). The guaranteed minimum value of a certificate is based on a‘financial gap’ analysis, which identifies the extra cost in production with reference to the use of fossil fuel. The guaranteed value for biomass was 80 €/GEC. As of 2010, it was 90 €/GEC. However, starting from 2010, co-combustion plants would receive only 50% of the GEC they has been given before. For dedicated plants the certificates issued remain at 100%. The support system is not only for pellets in particular but for RE in general, but it creates opportunities for pellets as well.
In the residential heating sector, there is a fiscal reduction of approximately 2,800 € for home-owners who install a pellet boiler in a newly built house.  



Enterprises as well benefit of a fiscal reduction (FED); those who invest in renewable energy can in fact deduct 14% of their investment from their taxes. Moreover, supports for ecological investments (FI Reg) also exist: small and medium enterprises receive an additional 40% of the extra cost in comparison to standard technology, while large enterprises receive 20%. The extra cost is defined as 50% for biomass electricity or combined heat and power and 80% for biomass heat production. In 2020, wood pellets were estimated to account for 8-15% of the total green heat production and for around 20-25% of the biomass-related green heat production.

READ: BIOMASS PELLET MARKET DEVELOPED IN DANMARK
 
2. Production capacity and feedstock
Pellet production in Belgium has experienced a large growth since 2005, increasing from a production capacity of 18,000 tons to 500,000 tons in 2009, 470,000 of which from the region of Wallonia and 30,000 from the region of Flanders. The growth in the production capacity from 2008 to 2009 remained 50,000 tons per year, just below the average for the last 4 years.


 
The pellet production capacity in December 2009 was estimated at 544,000 tons. While in the region of Flanders there was only 1 pellet plant with a capacity of 20.000 tons, Wallonia had 7 factories, whose output was about 286,000 tons/year in total (Pieret, 2011). Preliminary data for 2011 indicated a production of 300,000 tons. The availability of domestic forest resources in Belgium is limited. The country has one of the smallest percentage of forested areas per inhabitant in Europe. Most of the forests are found in Wallonia (the Ardennes) where 30% of the area is covered with forests while only 12% of the area in Flanders is covered with forests.
 
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3. Consumption
The consumption of pellet shows regional differences: in Wallonia 79,500 tons were consumed for domestic use in 2010, 4,000 for district heating and 400,000 for co-firing in the Les Awris power plant (Pieret, 2011) respectively. This means that in this region the annual consumption amounted to approximately 483,500 tons and that the current Wallon production can satisfy the domestic demand for Wallonia.
In the region of Flanders, the industrial sector in 2010 consumed 50,000 tons while 18,000 tons went to the residential sector, and 1,000 tons in the tertiary sector, 400,000 tons for generation of electricity in a power plant. This means that in this region the annual consumption amounted to approximately 470,000 tons. Therefore, the demand for pellet in Belgium in 2010 amounted to approximately 940,000 tons.
 
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4. Trade and logistic aspects
The domestic pellet production in Belgium is not able to satisfy this huge demand. It is noteworthy that in Flanders about 90% of the pellet used in the region comes from abroad. In Wallonia, more than half of biomass pellets used is from outside. Power plants import almost all of pellets needs. They principally come from Canada, U.S. and Germany.

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5. Pellets quality and standard
As European standards EN 14961-1 and EN 14961-2 were adopted at the European level, Belgium has to adapt its national standards. In the case of pellets, a Royal Decree will soon be adopted. On the other hand, the ENplus certification system continues its development. Up to now, pellets produced in Belgium generally fulfill the foreign standards (e.g. German DIN plus). Pellets imported in Belgium also fulfill general quality standards. 

Wood pellets produced by pellet plant would have further development in wood pellet market of Belgium thanks to the support by the government policies both on wood pellets used for industrial and residential. Therefore, both the industrial and the residential pellet markets would have good perspectives for further growth in Belgium and Belgium will be one of the most important markets for industrial pellets produced all over the world. 

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