Spain has 83 pellet factories, 7 fewer than in 2017

According to data from the Avebiom association published by Bioenergy International, Spain currently has 83 pellet factories, seven fewer than in 2017, although pellet manufacturing capacity now exceeds 2,000,000 tons annually, a quarter of a million more than the previous year. This data is included in the 2018 solid biofuels map for Spain, Portugal, Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay, published by Avebiom.

Currently, there are 35 plants with ENplus certified production, one of which was new in 2018. The autonomous communities with the most facilities are Andalusia and Castile and León, with 11 each, followed by Castile-La Mancha, with 10, and Galicia, with eight. Catalonia has six plants, and Extremadura, the Valencian Community, and Aragon have five each. The rest have fewer than five.

Based on available data, the greatest production capacity lies in Castile and León, where approximately 370,000 tons could be produced annually; Andalusia is capable of producing around 270,000 tons; Extremadura, thanks to the project in Moraleja, Cáceres, could reach 210,000 tons per year. In Galicia and Castile-La Mancha, with factories already in operation, the manufacturing potential ranges between 175,000 and 200,000 tons per year.

Aragon, where a large plant is being built in Erla, would have a capacity of 160,000 tons. In Catalonia, the medium-sized factories operate close to their capacity and can bring up to 140,000 tons to market annually. Regarding wood chip and pit plants, most of the nearly 60 inventoried by AVEBIOM have production levels below 30,000 tons per year—half of them have the capacity to produce up to 10,000 tons. Only five facilities produce more than 30,000 tons, and only three, in Asturias, Girona, and Valencia, are capable of exceeding 60,000 tons per year.

Olive pit producers remain consistent year after year, both in number, around 25 facilities, and in production, generally less than 10,000 t/year, although this varies with the annual olive campaign.