Metsä next-generation bioproduct mill becomes operational in Finland
Metsä
Bioproduct Mill in Äänekoski is already a reality. Metsä Group announced
yesterday that the facility had come into operation on Tuesday, 15 August 2017
at 6:00 in the morning (see official
announcement). The construction project was carried out as planned (see
project schedule in Figure 2). Before the bioproduct mill started up, the old
pulp mill in Äänekoski was shut down and its dismantling is currently in
progress. Pulp deliveries from the new mill to customers will begin in early
September 2017.
Figure 1. Metsä Group's bioproduct mill construction
site in Äänekoski photographed in July 2017 (extracted from the web page of the project)
The new forest biorefinery will achieve its
nominal capacity approximately a year after start-up. The mill will produce 1.3
million tons of pulp per year, along with other bioproducts such as tall oil
and turpentine. Other products complement the portfolio: product gas from bark,
sulphuric acid from the mill’s odorous gases and biogas and biofuel pellets
from sludge. Moreover, several processes and product paths are being actively
studied. The most important new bioproduct development projects are lignin
products, textile fibres and biocomposites.
With a value of 1,200 M€, the bioproduct mill
is the largest investment in the history of the Finnish forest industry. The
employment effect of the construction period was more than 6,000 person-years. The
number of employees working on the construction site reached its peak between
autumn 2016 and spring 2017: 3,000 people. In operation, the mill will create 2,500
jobs throughout the value chain in Finland (mainly, harvesting and transportation),
including around 1,500 new jobs.
Figure 2. Project schedule (extracted from the web page of the project)
In order to have clearer picture of the huge
magnitude of the new biorefinery, these are some of the figures provided by Metsä
in the web page of the project:
Total area required for the mill
|
40 ha
|
Total building volume
|
1,200,000 m3
|
In-situ concrete
|
100,000 m3
|
Steel structures
|
7,000 tons
|
New bridge for lorries
|
80 m
|
Railway work (new tracks)
|
4.5 km
|
Excavation
|
220,000 m3
|
Raw-water pipe (diameter 2.2 m)
|
1.2 km
|
