Technical Note SB77: Solid biofuel supply - model contract

Contracting for the sale and purchase of solid biofuels sets out the specification of what fuel is to be supplied and the responsibilities of both the seller and the buyer. When things go wrong the contracting parties need to look to the contract to clarify the respective responsibilities of both parties. If things are going well then a contract should never have to be referred to.

Contracts for the Sale and Purchase of Biomass to a Fuel Supplier

A wood fuel producer could simply be a grower selling felled or un-felled trees; a grower selling residues from harvest; a harvester selling the residues of harvest, or a wood processor selling process residues to a fuel supplier. There are a number of ways in which a contract can be structured for the transfer of the ownership of wood fibre from the producer to the supplier however, these are not covered in this Guide.

A wood fuel supplier may simply be a broker organizing for the collection and processing of harvest or process residues, processing them to meet a fuel specification, and delivery to an end user, or they could undertake all of the actions necessary to get wood residues into a fuel form and delivered to the end user.