Balcas, the timber products company which recently opened a £24m Combined Heat and Power (CHP) and pellet manufacturing plant in Easter Ross, has shipped its first load of pellets (brites) to Denmark.

The Invergordon-based company burns timber from the North of Scotland to produce energy which is sold to the National Grid and produces fuel pellets suitable to heat domestic or commercial premises including power stations.

This first load of brites, bound for Avedoere, sailed out between the Cromarty Firth Sutors on Friday morning, carrying 2,700 tons of fuel to feed the green energy needs of Denmark.

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Balcas general manager Chris Connorton, said: "It has been a complex project and we have benefited significantly from the assistance of Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) both in funding terms and from their assistance in overcoming the inevitable obstacles encountered in a project of this size.

"It is good to see the first load of brites go for export and to have the plant running 24/7 producing brites and green electricity."

Balcas Ltd is based in Enniskillen in Northern Ireland and began building the CHP and pellet facility in Invergordon 18 months ago. It uses predominantly Lodgepole Pine grown in Caithness and Sutherland, and employs 48 staff. It will produce 100,000 tons of brites per annum for onward sale and supply 7MW of green electricity to the National Grid.

Construction of the plant benefited from HIE and ERDF assistance.

(GK/KMcA)