A leading energy supplier within New Zealand is enabling GoodChips® to grow its international base.
Securing the New Zealand based company, Azwood Energy, reinforces the certification scheme’s mission to ensure quality materials are seen throughout the entirety of the
supply chain; both at a local and international level.
With the company moving around 1,000,000 cubic metres of raw and processed material each year, it aids towards the
country’s aim of lowering its carbon footprint; supplying cost-comparative carbon neutral wood fuels as an alternative
to conventional fossil fuels.
Now, as Azwood Energy takes further steps to ensure only the best in bioenergy is supplied, being a GoodChips® certified
company guarantees the quality of its wood chip and biomass fuel throughout its vast 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. 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, like much of the world, an increasingly competitive one.
As the sector grows having the edge of the 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 amongst its competitors as focused on
quality and accountability.
As the scheme remains the only international certification scheme for wood chips and hog fuel, it is leading the way in
identifying and securing a niche in this ever-expanding marketplace.
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 certified 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,” said
Wiberg.
“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.”
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.
GoodChips® draws a clear line between companies working hard and implementing best practices to deliver on quality, and
the rest. By becoming our first certified company outside Europe Azwood LTD 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.