Metsä Fibre to Use Valmet Technology for Äänekoski Bioproduct Project

 

Metsä Fibre and Valmet (both companies based in Finland) have signed a letter of intent according to which Valmet will deliver key technology to Metsä Fibre's planned Äänekoski bioproduct mill in Finland. The letter of intent covers recovery boiler, pulp drying line, gasification plant, and lime kiln deliveries. The delivery also includes a mill wide Metso DNA automation system. 

 

The contract is subject to Metsä Fibre's investment decision. Metsä Fibre has announced that if the prerequisites for the investment are met, the decision on the construction of the bioproduct mill will be made this spring, meaning that production at the new mill would begin in 2017.

 

The estimated value of Valmet's anticipated delivery, which includes only the core equipment supplied by Valmet, is about EUR 125-150 million.  

 

"This technology delivery for the Metsä Fibre Äänekoski project is a good sign of Valmet's competiveness and technological innovativeness. We are delighted to be able to continue our good and long cooperation with Metsä Group and Metsä Fibre," said Pasi Laine, president and CEO of Valmet. 

 

Valmet's anticipated delivery for Metsä Fibre's planned bioproduct mill will have an important employment impact on Valmet and its subcontractors. The employment impact of Valmet's project delivery is expected to be around 250 man years, out of which half will be in Finland. 

 

"In projects like Äänekoski, we can utilize our know-how in pulp and bioproduct technology. In addition to bringing work to us, our delivery also employs many other suppliers in the Nordics and Europe for engineering, manufacturing, and installation. This delivery would employ Valmet employees especially in Finland, in the cities of Tampere, Ulvila, Jyväskylä, and Raisio," said Bertel Karlstedt, Pulp and Energy Business Line president from Valmet.

 

The approximately EUR 1.1 billion bioproduct mill planned by Metsä Fibre would be the largest ever investment in the forest industry in Finland. The mill would have an annual pulp production capacity of 1.3 million metric. 

 

Valmet's delivery would include engineering, procurement, supply, and construction management of a recovery boiler, a pulp drying line, a lime kiln, and a gasification plant.

The planned recovery boiler has a capacity of 7,200 metric TDS/d (metric tons of dry solids per day). The planned pulp drying line will have a trimmed width of 8.25 meters and a capacity of 2,700 Admt/day. The planned lime kiln has a capacity of 1,200 metric tpd and will be operated by renewable fuel provided by an 87 MW product gas capacity biomass gasification plant. The gasification plant dries bark and gasifies it to product gas.  

Metsä Fibre, part of Metsä Group, is a producer of softwood pulp, whose main brand is Botnia. The company's main products are sustainably and cost-efficiently produced bleached softwood and birch pulps. Metsä Fibre has four pulp mills in Finland. Its sales in 2014 totaled approximately EUR 1.3 billion, and it employs some 850 people;