Metsä to Build New Bioenergy Plant at Tissue Mill in Sweden
Katrinefors Kraftvärme AB (KKAB), a 50/50 joint venture owned by Metsä Tissue, part of the Metsä Group, and the local municipal energy company VänerEnergi AB, will build a new biomass combined heat and power (CHP) plant in Mariestad, Sweden, in conjunction with the Metsä Tissue mill. This will be the second bioenergy plant operated by KKAB.
Construction of the new plant will start this month and is expected to be operating by the end of 2014. The total investment will amount to approximately EUR 30 million, of which Metsä Tissue’s share will be 50%.
According to Mark Watkins, SVP Tissue Scandinavia, KKAB’s new bioenergy plant is an important step in increasing the share of bioenergy. In Metsä Group, the share of wood-based bioenergy is high, as more than 80% of all of the used fuel is biomass.
Increasing the share of bioenergy is one of the key activities in Metsä Group’s efforts to mitigate climate change and reduce fossil carbon dioxide emissions. Metsä Group’s target is to reduce fossil-based carbon dioxide emissions by 30% per product metric ton by 2020, from the 2009 level.
The new bioenergy production reduces significantly, even as much as 90%, Metsä Tissue Mariestad mill’s oil usage. The new power plant will decrease Mariestad mill’s annual carbon dioxide emissions by some 6,000 metric tons, i.e. by 30% from the present level. Currently oil is used to cover winter time peak in heat demand and as reserve fuel.
The new biomass CHP plant will be composed of an approximately 28 MW biomass boiler to produce heat and approximately 7 MW turbine to produce electricity. The biomass fuels consist of energy wood and the mill’s recycled fiber residues.
In addition to producing electricity and heat for the Mariestad mill, the plant will provide renewable energy for the surrounding community in the form of district heating and bio-based grid electricity.
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