A leading energy supplier within New Zealand is enabling GoodChips to grow its international base. Securing New Zealand based company, Azwood Energy, reinforces the certification scheme’s mission to ensure quality materials are seen throughout the supply chain at a local and international level. Source: Timberbiz
GoodChips is the first international certification scheme for wood chips and hog fuel, owned and managed by Bioenergy Europe. It operates as a third-party scheme and certifies a variety of product parameters such as the origin and source of the raw material, moisture content, particle size distribution, ash content, etc.
Moreover, with its specific requirements on the processes and quality management systems, it ensures that the quality of the products remains unchanged even beyond the production process.
By becoming our first certified company outside Europe Azwood has decided to take the lead and to act with responsibility and transparency toward their clients, as the certification seal is not just a quality confirmation for end-users but also a guarantee to always find a product that meets the specifications of their appliances.
Azwood Energy moves around 1,000,000 cubic metres of raw and processed material each year and moves towards the country’s aim of lowering its carbon footprint by supplying cost-comparative carbon neutral wood fuels as an alternative to conventional fossil fuels.
Now, according to Azwood Energy it is taking steps to ensure the best in bioenergy is supplied, as GoodChips is a certified company that guarantees the quality of its wood chip and biomass fuel throughout its supply chain across New Zealand.
“Azwood Energy has led the New Zealand biomass industry for almost 20 years. The unique methodology that sets us apart has now been bolstered by a quality third-party certified accreditation,” the company said in a statement.
“This gives our clients an assurance of quality and accountability that will continue to drive the market forward for the next two decades.”
As wood fuel has the potential to be one of the cleanest means of energy production throughout the New Zealand, the marketplace of bioenergy is an increasingly competitive one.
As the sector grows having GoodChips’ quality seal, not only ensures a fair, transparent, and structured market for wood chips and hog fuel but also enables Azwood Energy, to stand out as focused on quality and accountability.
GoodChips Certification requires a wood chip production facility to develop a complete quality management system to include raw material sourcing, management of their operating processes, and use of an on-site laboratory to confirm product quality as it is made.
Additionally, an annual audit includes collecting samples of their products to verify independently that all products are on-grade, confirmation that testing procedures are accurate, and their overall quality management system is effective at delivering on-spec product.
These quality systems and processes are third-party verified and audited by international biomass experts.
Chris Wiberg, of Timber Products Inspection and Biomass Energy Lab located in the United States was on site at Azwood to complete the certification inspection.
“With specific reference to wood chips, Azwood is one of the pioneers of the GoodChips certification project,” he said.
“As this is a relatively new certification there are very few GoodChips certified companies globally, so the fact that Azwood has stepped up to be one of the early adopters shows a dedication and commitment to the industry not seen in their competitors.”
