Pacific BioEnergy Corporation (PacBio) has reached an agreement to assign some of its assets, including the wood pellet long term sales contracts, to the Drax Group. After satisfying certain closing conditions, which is expected by the end of 2021, certain assets owned by PacBio will be assigned to Pinnacle Renewable Energy Inc., part of the Drax Group. It is intended that the PacBio wood pellet plant at Prince George will be permanently closed in 2022 once the assets are assigned. This decision will mean the loss of 55 direct jobs. The shutdown date will be finalized in early 2022.
PacBio CEO John Stirling stated, “Our Company has been battling several challenges for the past few years. Sawmill closures in the region have reduced the volume of available raw materials and increased their cost significantly. Forest fires, landslides, and floods have severely impacted our ability to transport our product by rail to the export terminal in North Vancouver. The impact has been a significant increase in operating costs. Our sales contracts have been sold to Pinnacle to mitigate the impact on our customers.”
