Enviva Holdings, LP Announces New Development Joint Venture and Acquisition of Wood Pellet Production Plant

BETHESDA, Md.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Enviva Holdings, LP (“Enviva” or “we”) announced today that its
development subsidiary, Enviva Development Holdings, LLC (“Enviva
Development”), entered into a new joint venture, Enviva JV Development
Company, LLC, with affiliates of The John Hancock Life Insurance Company
(U.S.A.) (“John Hancock”) to acquire, develop and construct wood pellet
production plants and deep-water marine terminals in the Southeastern
United States. The new joint venture will be managed by Enviva and
supported by the Hancock Renewable Energy Group (“HREG”), a unit of the
Hancock Natural Resource Group. In addition, the new joint venture has
agreed to acquire a wood pellet production plant in Greenwood, South
Carolina (the “Greenwood plant”), subject to certain customary closing
conditions.

“We are very pleased to announce the extension of our development
relationship with John Hancock and HREG. The new joint venture is
expected to develop and construct new production plants and marine
terminals required to serve the growing Asian and European markets,”
said John Keppler, President and Chief Executive Officer of Enviva. “As
the plants and terminal assets contemplated in the joint venture become
fully contracted and reach commercial operation, we expect to offer them
to Enviva Partners, LP, providing additional visibility into the
partnership’s potential drop-down inventory.”

New Joint Venture

Through their affiliates, Enviva and John Hancock will provide the
capital to the new joint venture needed to fund the acquisition of the
Greenwood plant as well as the planned development of a deep-water
marine terminal at the Port of Pascagoula, Mississippi and at least two
additional wood pellet production facilities, subject to certain terms
and conditions. The parties have agreed that Enviva Wilmington Holdings,
LLC, their existing development joint venture, and Enviva Development
will contribute certain wood pellet production plant and marine terminal
development projects in the Southeastern United States to the new joint
venture. Enviva will serve as the managing member and operator of the
new joint venture.

Production Plant Acquisition

The first investment of the new joint venture is expected to be the
acquisition of the Greenwood plant and related assets from The Navigator
Company, S.A., a large Portuguese paper and pulp company. The
acquisition is expected to close in the first half of 2018.

The Greenwood plant commenced operations in October 2016. The new joint
venture expects to complete the production ramp and invest incremental
capital in the Greenwood plant required to improve the operational
efficiency and increase the production capacity of the facility. The
production of the Greenwood plant initially will be sold to Enviva
Partners, LP (the “Partnership”) under a take-or-pay off-take contract
and will continue to be exported from the Partnership’s deep-water
marine terminal in Wilmington, North Carolina.

“The Greenwood plant is well-constructed, strategically located in a
deep natural resource basin and has a strong manufacturing base to build
on,” said Keppler. “Enviva is a proven acquirer and we are excited to
bring this team into the Enviva family and to grow this plant into a
world-class production facility. As the Partnership has continued to
extend its contracted position, high-quality, low-cost pellets from
Greenwood will be an important part of meeting its growing customer
demand.”

Hamlet Plant

The existing joint venture between affiliates of Enviva and John Hancock
will retain ownership of Enviva Pellets Hamlet, LLC, the entity
constructing a 600,000 metric tons per year production plant in Hamlet,
North Carolina (the “Hamlet plant”). Enviva expects the Hamlet plant
will be operational in the first quarter of 2019. Production from the
Hamlet plant is contracted to supply MGT Power’s Teesside Renewable
Energy Plant, which currently is under construction in the United
Kingdom.

About Enviva Holdings, LP

Enviva Holdings, LP is the world’s largest producer of wood pellets, a
renewable and sustainable energy source used to generate electricity and
heat. Through its subsidiaries, Enviva Holdings, LP owns and operates
plants in the Southeastern United States that produce nearly 3 million
metric tons of wood pellets annually. We export our pellets primarily to
power plants in the United Kingdom and Europe that previously were
fueled by coal, enabling them to reduce their lifetime carbon footprint
by about 80 percent. We make our pellets using sustainable practices
that protect Southern forests, and we employ about 600 people and
support many other businesses in the rural South, where jobs and
economic opportunity are sometimes scarce. Enviva Holdings, LP conducts
its activities primarily through two entities: Enviva Partners, LP, a
publicly-traded master limited partnership (NYSE: EVA), and Enviva
Development Holdings, LLC, a wholly-owned private company. To learn more
about Enviva, please visit our website at www.envivabiomass.com.

Cautionary Note Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements and information in this press release, including
those concerning future results of operations, acquisition
opportunities, and distributions, may constitute “forward-looking
statements.” The words “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “plan,”
“intend,” “foresee,” “should,” “would,” “could,” or other similar
expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, which
are generally not historical in nature. These forward-looking statements
are based on our current expectations and beliefs concerning future
developments and their potential effects. Although management believes
that these forward-looking statements are reasonable when made, there
can be no assurance that future developments will be those that
management anticipates. These forward-looking statements involve
significant risks and uncertainties (some of which are beyond our
control) and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ
materially from our historical experience and our present expectations
or projections.

Contacts

Enviva Holdings, LP
Communications:
Karen Tripp, +301-657-5560
[email protected]