Borregaard to revamp its 2G ethanol plant
The plant of Borregaard in Sarpsborg is one of the
most obvious examples of the forest biorefineries potential. By using wood as a
raw material, this facility produces sustainable chemicals, biomaterials and
biofuels (read more about the Sarpsborg
Biorefinery). The transition from a traditional pulp and paper mill towards
an integrated biorefinery started long time ago with the first delivery of
dissolving pulp for textiles in 1921 and the production of bioethanol in 1938. Such
bioethanol is obtained by extracting sugar compounds from wood which then are
fermented. Currently, it has a production of 20 million litres per year, which is used
for biofuels and other chemical and pharmaceutical applications.
The market for this 2nd generation ethanol
is growing, mainly driven by increased demand in automotive fuel, and Borregaard
has decided to invest NOK 63 million (about EUR 7 million) in a project which
includes an upgrade of the bioethanol plant and a facility to capture and store
biogas (see press
release). The project has been awarded a grant of NOK 18.9 million (EUR 2
million) from Enova (a Norwegian government
agency).
Video: The basics of Borregaards Operations at the facilities in Sarpsborg (Norway)
The bioethanol plant upgrade includes
installing modern production technology which will reduce significantly the use
of energy in the process and will allow to deliver the whole production as 100%
water-free bioethanol. Regarding to the biogas, the new installation will make
it possible to capture and store a bigger part of the available biogas produced
from process residues and increase the internal use. The project work will
start up during the second half of 2016. The bioethanol rebuild will be
completed in 2017 and the biogas installation will be finished in 2018.