News & events

During 17 – 18 June 2026, the World Bioenergy Association (WBA) organized our annual General Assembly in Stockholm, Sweden. The event involved exciting site visits, a great dinner for all delegates and the annual meetings where a new board was elected along with a discussion on the status and future of bioenergy.  

Site Visits (17 June): On 17th June, WBA delegates had an opportunity to visit a state of art pellet plant. Scandbio’s Norberg pellet plant has a capacity of 140 000 tons and operates at above 95% efficiency. It uses local forest residues – mainly sawdust and wood shavings– to produce high-quality pellets. The plant also provides district heating to the nearby community of Norberg (approx. 5000 residents) throughout the year.  

The 2nd visit was to Holmen – the 2nd largest private owner in Sweden. They manage almost 1 million ha of forest, and the delegates had a chance to visit a knowledge park in Länna. The visit showcased the benefits of sustainable forest management for producing products and energy. Actively managing forest leads to increasing forest area, protects natural resources and promotes climate adaptability.  

The day ended with a wonderful dinner at Bar Allegrine – a Michelin Bib Gourmand French brasserie with local Scandinavian dishes.   

General Assembly (18 June): On 18th June, the delegates convened at the WBA Secretariat in Central Stockholm for the Annual meetings. During the GA, a new board was elected, and we are pleased to welcome 3 new board members:  

• Claudia Muench, Co-founder and CEO, BioMassters Ltd., Rwanda 
• Claudius da Costa Gomez, Managing Director, German Biogas Association, Germany 
• Carsten Huljus, Chief Executive Officer, SBP, UK 

Moreover, Dr. Christian Rakos was elected again to lead the WBA as President.  

Complete list of board members is available here: Link. We express our sincere thanks to the following board members who finished their tenure in 2026 – Remigijus Lapinskas (Lithuania), Mika Ohbayashi (Japan) and Werner Sitzmann (Germany).  

Apart from the elections, WBA presented the status of our activities and funding situation to the members. We were pleased to report a highly successful and profitable 2025 which included a host of publications, events, and international collaborations. Full details are available in our recently published annual report: Link 

We express our sincere gratitude to Scandbio and Holmen for hosting the site visits. Full details of the site visits will be available in a special country report on Sweden – to be published later this year. We hope to see you all again next year at our GA 2027!