Georgetown’s port picks up renewable-energy business
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Georgetown's port picks up renewable-energy business...
The Port of Georgetown picked up 66,000 tons of cargo a year and up to 45 additional jobs as part of a renewable energy company?s plan to ship wood briquettes to Europe.
Rusty Ray/WBTW
South Carolina State Ports Authority representatives and Carolina Pacific officials announce the Port of Georgetown will soon help ship wood briquettes to Europe for the next 20 years.
GEORGETOWN - The Port of Georgetown picked up 66,000 tons of cargo a year and up to 45 additional jobs as part of a renewable energy company’s plan to ship wood briquettes to Europe.
EQUIPMENT & FACILITIES
Georgetown was built for breakbulk cargo:
- 4 berths totaling 1,800 ft.
- 139,800 square-feet of covered storage
- 2 transit warehouses totaling 103,000 square-feet
- 3 enclosed sheds totaling 36,800 square-feet
- 27.9 acres of open storage
- Covered and open storage rail access is provided
- Up to 200-Ton mobile crane available
- Specialty handling facilities on terminal for metals, cement, chemicals, aggregates, forest products and ore
- Fleet of cargo handling equipment
- Direct on-terminal CSX rail connection
- Channel depth 27 ft. MLW
- 27 ft. MLW at dockside
- 13.5 miles from the ocean
—State ports authority
Carolina-Pacific, a South Carolina company, signed a 20-year deal with an option for two five-year extensions. The deal also includes warehouse space at the port
The tonnage figure is for the first year only and could increase, company officials said.
“Our approaches consolidate US and foreign energy interests into one of the most advantageous and exciting energy opportunities ever presented in the Southeastern United States,” according to the company’s Web site.
Each member nation of the European Union has to have 20 percent of its energy come from renewable sources by 2020, officials said.
Carolina-Pacific is headquartered in Charleston, according to the company’s Web site, and works with materials such as switchgrass, southern yellow pine and northern pine.
“In support of its initiative to develop a superior product specifically designed for utilities and industrial applications, Carolina-Pacific developed a product known and trademarked as the ROCette™, which delivers in excess of 8,000 BTU per,” according to the company’s Web site.
Company officials said their product has a smaller carbon footprint than similar products.
“The company has suppliers in the US states of Maine, Rhode Island, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee,” according to it’s Web site.
The Georgetown port has handled items such as coal and cement, although cargo volumes at the port have declined in recent years.
Ports Authorty officials say creation of a partnership such as this is what fuels further economic development.
“Whether it’s a harbor pilot, or a tugboat operator, or a line handling company, that’s what we’re about,“ said John F. Hassell, III, the interim CEO of the South Carolina State Ports Authority. “From that, all of these other opportunities are created.“
Hassell said Carolina Pacific was impressed with the Port of Georgetown.
“There are good transportation connections with the other sources of export product, so things have worked together, and we’re glad we were able to cut the deal,“ he said.
The Port of Georgetown is the South Carolina State Ports Authority’s dedicated breakbulk and bulk cargo facility, according to the port authority’s Web site.
“With an expanded berth, ample open and covered storage, specialty cargo handling facilities, and a team of workers experienced in the field, Georgetown can handle your cargo efficiently, safely, and at an attractive price,” according to the Web site.
Top commodities for the Port of Georgetown are steel, cement, aggregates, and forest products.
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