General Biofuels Georgia is a project to export wood pellets to Europe, according to the General Biofuels website. This file photo demonstrates pellets as a fuel source from recycled sawdust, taken March 19, 2007 in Berlin, Germany.(Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images)
Gov. Nathan Deal announced in a news release today that Sandersville is getting a $60 million wood pellet manufacturing plant.
Officials say General Biofuels Georgia, LLC will create 35 jobs with its facility in Sandersville. It will have the capacity to produce more than 400,000 tons a year of industrial-grade wood pellets for sale to a "major European utility."
Wood pellets are considered an environmentally-friendly fuel source.
The news release cites a "long-term contract" with the European utility company and states that production is slated to begin in the first quarter of 2014.
"Sandersville is an ideal setting for our pellet production facility. The timber resources are abundant, the workforce is capable and motivated and the transportation system from Sandersville to the Port of Savannah will be tremendously advantageous," said General Biofuels founder and chairman Ruby Sahiwal.
The state is No. 1 in the nation for commercial timberland, according to the governor's news release, with 10 million acres of agricultural land and 24.7 million acres of forest land.