St1 is planning to construct a new Cellunolix® ethanol plant in Norway
The Nordic energy company St1 is a pioneer in advanced biofuel production in
northern Europe. It has already four plants producing ethanol from food
industry residues in Finland and it is building a cellulosic ethanol plant in
Kajaani. The facility, based on its Cellunolix® technology, will begin production
this year and will use sawdust as feedstock (read
more).
Currently, St1 is seeking locations for new
Cellunolix® plants in all of its operating countries (Finland, Sweden and
Norway) and one of the potential projects is progressing well. In fact, Smart
Fuel AS (St1 Nordic Oy’s Norwegian subsidiary) has just signed a letter of
intent with Viken Skog SA and its
subsidiary Treklyngen Holding AS to construct a Cellunolix® ethanol plant in
Norway (press
release).
Figure 1. Follum paper mill before shutting
down in March 2012 (extracted from Norske Skog web page)
The cellulosic ethanol biorefinery will be located
in the industrial area of Follum in Hønefoss (one hour from Oslo). Follum is a
former paper mill site with strong industrial infrastructure, power and heat
supply, and significant land space, where Treklyngen is planning several projects
for realization within 2–5 years. The expected production capacity of the plant
is 50 million liters of cellulosic ethanol for transportation, using local
forest industry residues as feedstock. It is estimated that the project will
reach the investment decision stage in 2018 and the plant will be in operation
by 2021.