Faced with the rise in energy prices, more and more French people are investing in boilers or wood and pellet stoves. But some professionals fear they won’t be able to meet the demand for fuel this winter.
Stéphane Demilly, Senator for the Somme, expressed his concern in a written question addressed to Agnès Pannier-Runacher, Minister for Energy Transition.
“Today there is a bubble in the demand for pellets,” laments Eric Vial, general delegate of Propellet, the national association of wood pellet heating professionals.
Avoid overstocking
“There is a small lack,” he admits. A hole in the racket partly linked to the war in Ukraine since last year, Europe imported 3 million tons of pellets from Belarus, Russia and Ukraine.
The French production of pellets does not cover the needs of the country. The rest is imported from abroad. But rising prices and the seizure of large amounts of pellets by big players like power plant managers make importing more complex.
To avoid shortages, dealers go after customers who order more firewood than usual for the winter. Because so often when a risk of shortages looms, the French rush to stock up.
And “to prevent those who feel tempted to store more than necessary by supplying from several production plants, distributors no longer accept new customers,” says Eric Vial.
In a sign that the panic is beginning to gain ground, Brazeco, a distributor of wood energy (wood pellets and logs), posted a 30% increase in orders compared to last year, which was already in double-digit growth.
“We are victims of our success”
For several years, producers of energy wood have had a growing demand. In 2021, pellet stove sales increased by 50% and boiler sales by 120%. Strong growth linked in part to the post-Covid recovery, but which had been anticipated by professionals. This year, Propellet expects a 25-30% increase in sales for stoves and 50% for boilers.
In addition, given the rise in energy prices, some municipalities that used pellets to supplement city gas now use it 100%.
“We are running out of steam. We are victims of our success”, recognizes Etic Vial. Several problems arose. For one thing, semiconductor shortages and rising commodity prices are holding back device manufacturing. In addition, companies lack arms to install them in private homes.
Deadlines have exploded
“Deadlines have skyrocketed. With few exceptions, you have to wait until December or even next year in terms of deadlines. To this is added the tension on the pellet, pushing some people to postpone their investment or resort to heat pumps”, details the general delegate of Propellet.
The sector was still prepared for the explosion in demand. Thanks to the opening of new factories and the increase in the production capacity of existing ones, the sector expects the arrival of an additional million tons of pellets between 2021 and 2024, and the doubling of production capacity by 2028.
Source: BFM TV
