In Upper Austria alone, the production capacity is to be expanded by 235,000 t a year by the end of 2022, followed by Lower Austria with an annual 176,000 t and Styria with 130,000 t a year.
Donausäge Rumplmayr in Enns and Stallinger Holzindustrie in Frankenmarkt plan to start producing pellets and have reported target quantities of 80,000 t and 70,000 t a year, respectively. In addition, Sturmberger will raise the capacity at its production site in Wels from 40,000 t to 70,000 t a year. In the course of 2022, Vienna-based Cyclenergy Holding wants to build a pellet plant with an annual capacity of 35,000 t next to its biomass power plant in Aschach.
In spring, RZ Pellets put its seventh plant with an annual capacity of 50,000 t into operation in the Lower Austrian town of Sollenau. Andreas Wiesbauer GmbH of Höhenberg replaced its pellet boiler and achieved a tenfold capacity increase to 50,000 t a year. The new press is to go into operation these days. In addition to the biomass power plant in Göpfritz, Nawaro Energie Betrieb plans to install a 70,000-t pellet production which includes photovoltaic panels by the end of the year. Kirnbauer Holzindustrie of Ternitz wants to supply its press (6000 t/year) solely with wood shavings.
In Styria, EHO-Pellets, which is part of the Rubner group, will start up a pellet plant with a capacity of 60,000 t a year in Rohrbach an der Lafnitz. Also this year, Franz Moser GmbH of St. Lambrecht plans to build a 70,000-t pellet production and combined heat and power plant in Neumarkt.
Less than 30 km from the Neumarkter Sattel, Tilly Holzindustrie of Altenhofen wants to produce 150,000 t of pellets a year by 2024. In addition to Rumplmayr, Stallinger, Kirnbauer and Mayr-Melnhof in Reutte (22,000 t/year), the Carinthian company is the only one which could produce the raw material at its own production sites. All other companies have to buy the raw material needed for pellet production.
In 2021, around 1.6 million t of wood pellets were produced in Austria. If all planed production sites go into operation and all capacity expansions are implemented this year, capacity will exceed 2.1 million t within just one year, thus rising by 25%.
| Company | Location | State | Capacity in t/year | To go into operation in |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tilly Holzindustrie GmbH | Althofen | Carinthia | 150,000 | 2024 |
| Donausäge Rumplmayr GmbH | Enns | Upper Austria | 80,000 | 2022 |
| Nawaro Energie Betrieb GmbH | Göpfritz | Lower Austria | 70,000 | 2022 |
| Franz Moser GmbH | Neumarkt | Styria | 70,000 | 2022 |
| Sturmberger GmbH* | Wels | Upper Austria | 70,000 | 2022 |
| EHO-Pellets GmbH | Rohrbach | Styria | 60,000 | 2022 |
| Stallinger Holding GmbH | Frankenmarkt | Upper Austria | 50,000 | 2022 |
| Riegler und Zechmeister RZ-Pellets | Sollenau | Lower Austria | 50,000 | 2022 |
| Andreas Wiesbauer GmbH * | Höhenberg | Lower Austria | 50,000 | 2022 |
| Cycleenergy Aschach GmbH | Aschach | Upper Austria | 35,000 | 2022 |
| Mayr-Melnhof Holz | Reuthe | Vorarlberg | 22,000 | 2022 |
| Kirnbauer Holzindustrie | Ternitz | Lower Austria | 6,000 | 2022 |
| Total | 713,000 |
