Biomass & Wood Energy

Craven County Wood Energy is a biomass power plant in New Bern, North Carolina, that turns wood waste into electricity for the regional grid. It runs on "bark and sawdust from local pulp, paper and lumber mills" plus nonmarketable biomass left over from lumbering and farm operations, and it also takes in poultry waste as fuel. The services it lists are Biomass Purchase, Mill Residual Purchase, and Poultry Waste Fuel Acceptance. It serves Craven County, and the plant's output helps power eastern North Carolina's electric grid. The ash it produces goes back out to area farmers as a fertilizer substitute for liming their fields. Commercial operation began in 1990, and the plant now supports nearly 100 timber industry jobs beyond its own staff, from foresters to truck drivers and welders. This plant deals in mill residuals and wood waste streams, not in buying standing timber off a tract. A landowner comparing options here would only have a reason to call if they are supplying bark, sawdust, or similar residual wood, rather than selling trees still standing in the woods. From northstarcleanenergy.com, read 10 October 2026.