Borregaard to revamp its 2G ethanol plant

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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.

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