UPM starts the basic engineering phase of an advanced biorefinery

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Type of post: NEWS.

UPM moves forward with biofuels growth plans and starts the basic engineering phase of a next generation biorefinery. The facility would have an annual capacity of 500 ktons of high-quality renewable fuels including sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The products would significantly reduce carbon footprint in the road transport and aviation, as well as replace fossil raw materials with renewable alternatives in chemicals and plastics.
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Figure 1. UPM Lappeenranta Biorefinery (taken from UPM website)

UPM’s solid wood biomass-based residues and side streams would play a substantial role in the feedstock pool. In addition, it would consist of sustainable liquid waste and residue raw materials. UPM has an excellent position and expertise acquired over the decades in biomass sourcing both in Finland and Central Europe thanks to its large-scale operations in the pulp, paper, timber and plywood businesses.

UPM will now proceed with a detailed commercial and basic engineering study (the estimated duration is minimum 12 months) to define the business case, select the most innovative technology option and estimate the investment need. The technology concept includes the use of green hydrogen in the production process. During the study UPM will also review the operating environment primarily in two locations: Kotka (Finland) and Rotterdam (the Netherlands). If all preparations are concluded successfully, UPM would initiate the company’s standard procedure of analysing and preparing an investment decision.

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