Wood Pellet Firm Wins EU Certification

Wood pellets, manufactured by a leading Northern Ireland manufacturer, Balcas in Co Fermanagh, are the first in Ireland to receive certification under ENplus, the new standard for premium quality wood pellets across Europe.

The new ENplus certification for Brites is the first of its kind and the Austrian certification body in co-operation with the European Pellet Council aims to ensure the supply of standardised, high-quality wood pellets for end users.

The complete supply chain is evaluated; meaning certification is only awarded to manufactures after the wood pellets, the labelling, logistics, storage and delivery to end user is assessed to ensure that the customer receives the highest quality wood pellets. As wood pellets become an ever more important energy carrier, a clearly defined uniform quality level becomes indispensable.

Paula Keelagher, Business Development Manager at Brites said: "As the leading wood pellet manufacturer in the UK and Ireland we had to ensure that Balcas led the way and set an example for the industry by achieving this accolade.

"Quality has always been our main objective and to be a certified product across the whole manufacturing process is an immense achievement for both Balcas and the brites team."

Peter Rechberger, General Manager of the European Pellet Council commented: "The European Pellet Council congratulates Balcas brites for being awarded the ENplus certification - which makes Balcas also the largest producer of ENplus pellets in the UK. "A guaranteed high pellet quality will greatly aid the development of the UK pellet market for domestic heating and ensure customer satisfaction."

ENplus is more than a pellet specification; it assesses the whole supply chain, ensuring that standardised high quality fuel is received by the end user giving brites customer’s assurance that their fuel is top quality.

Brites wood pellets are manufactured in Balcas plants in Fermanagh and Invergordon and employ over 100 staff to produce 150,000 tonnes of wood pellets a year distributing across the UK and Ireland, achieving the ENplus certification just further demonstrates the organisations commitment to both the wood fuel industry and their customers.

(GK/BMcC)