About us
The Biomass Group is a vertically integrated renewable energy company that develops biomass resources for chips, pellets and power. The production of biomass fuel — from Gliricidia trees — complements and enhances food production.
Sri Lanka was chosen to demonstrate Biomass Group’s business model, by leveraging the country’s abundant biomass resources. This is an agri-energy program that combines Food AND Sustainable Fuel AND Livelihood Development. It is unique in that this biomass production INCREASES food production.
There are 500 million smallholder farmers in the world today, many of whom have meagre incomes and live in the tropics. The Biomass Group intends to showcase this agri-energy model to the world and replicate this business in other countries on the Equator where Gliricidia grows in abundance.
What we do
Biomass Supplies (a Biomass Group company) encourages smallholder farmers, private plantations, state plantations, the Catholic Church, Buddhist temples, Civil Defense Services in Sri Lanka to plant a triple fence of Gliricidia around their land as well as intercropping Gliricidia with existing cash crops. The process generating millions of tons of commercial biomass from these smallholder farmers and plantation owners in a very innovative partnership. We are also a catalyst for organic agriculture – Gliricidia leaves are used to make compost, organic pesticides, organic fungicides and microbial cultures.
Biomass Supplies began operations in Sri Lanka in March 2013. We have offices in Colombo, Kantale, Puttalam and a network of field offices who directly registered 40,000 smallholder farmers.
Trinco Pellets (another Biomass Group company) was registered in Sri Lanka in June 2016 with the purpose of turning Gliricidia sourced biomass into chips and pellets.
Once plant operations commence in 2019, the Biomass Group will have transformative impact on Sri Lanka’s energy and agriculture landscape. This business will transform livelihoods in rural communities in Sri Lanka – in many areas doubling the per capita income of our registered farmers – and deliver on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Who we are
The Biomass Group was founded by Lucky Dissanayake in 2012 with the holding company based in Singapore.
The history of the company started in 2009, when Lucky met Dr. Ray Wijewardene and was inspired by his vision of a green energy secure Sri Lanka. She worked with Dr. Parakrama Jayasinghe on a research and development phase over two years to explore the opportunity of biomass power being a means to improve the livelihoods of small holder farmers across Sri Lanka.
In 2012, the International Finance Corporatuon (IFC) gave the company a grant for a feasibility study on biomass fuelwood availability in Tea Plantations.
Since 2012 the Biomass Group has been funded by several international investors; some of whom are actively working to develop the business. David Lane is developing the PLanT platform and David Hiel is focused on business development.
Jude de Valliere is the CEO of Biomass Supplies. Jude overseas the Head Office in Colombo, Regional Offices in Kantale and Puttalam and 30 full time staff, all engaged in developing biomass supply resources.
In 2018 we will start to develop our power plans. The initial ambition is to deliver 40MW of dendro power to the National Grid in Sri Lanka by 2020.
In September 2017 InfraCo Asia – a Singapore based infrastructure development company became the 1st institutional investor. InfraCo Asia is a company of the multi-donor Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG) and is currently funded by three of its members – the UK Department for International Development (UKAid), the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO).
How we are organized – Biomass Group Structure
The main holding company for Biomass Group was incorporated in Singapore in March 2012.
The operating companies are all based in Sri Lanka; they are organized as interdependent companies, which reflect their different operating needs and funding requirements:
- Supply – Biomass Supplies
- Pellets – Trinco Pellets
- Power – Green energy to the Grid (next phase)
