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Thunderbolt Biomass Launches Manufacturing Plant In Allendale, South Carolina

03/30/2017
Thunderbolt Biomass, Inc., a manufacturer of wood pellets from sawmill residuals, is launching new processing operations, 72 miles northwest of Savannah and 91 miles west of Charleston, in Allendale, South Carolina. The company is planning to invest $6 million in the project, creating 35 new jobs.

At the new facility, Thunderbolt Biomass will produce industrial renewable fuel from biomass sourced from the area adjacent to the plant. Additionally, the plant will produce a variety of raw materials, such as sawmill residuals, forestry residuals, thinnings and in-woods chip operations. The facility will also produce horse and animal beddings, domestic fuel and more.

Located on an eight-acre site at 1624 Bluff Road, the company’s Allendale County operations will be housed in a 14,550-square-foot metal building. A wood pellet mill, with a capacity of 60,000 tons per annum, will also be installed on the site. Adjacent to the building will be raw material reception equipment, a dryer, storage silos, sieves, hammermills and environmental equipment.

As an incentive, the Coordinating Council for Economic Development has approved job development credits related to this project. Allendale County was also awarded a $100,000 Rural Infrastructure Fund grant to assist with costs related to this project.

“Thunderbolt Biomass is very pleased to announce its plans for a new pellet mill in Allendale. We are very happy to be building this plant in an area of abundant forestry resources, infrastructure and with the active support of the S.C. Department of Commerce and the SouthernCarolina Economic Alliance, whose personnel and expertise were critical in bringing this project to Allendale. We intend to be good partners in developing our business here, to hire locally as much as we can and look forward to many profitable years in this community,” said Thunderbolt Biomass President Knox Grant.

“South Carolina continues to see its manufacturing and forestry sectors grow and create jobs. Today’s announcement from Thunderbolt Biomass builds on our state’s success in these sectors, and I’m proud to welcome this terrific company to Team South Carolina,” said Secretary of Commerce Bobby Hitt.

“Thunderbolt’s investment reflects its confidence in our state’s abundant forest resource and the many landowners who sustainably manage their woodlands. This facility will join the hundreds of other mills in South Carolina that contribute to forestry’s rank as one of the leading manufacturing sectors in terms of jobs and labor income," stated South Carolina State Forester Gene Kodama.

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