Lars Storslett, Direkter, Moelven Timber and Moelven Pellets, Mortel Kristiansen, President of Moelven Industrier; Secretary of State, Atle Hamar (KLD); Enar Senior Consultant Roar Hugnes and Moelven Soknabruket Director Atle Nilsen (Image courtesy of Moelven Industrier).
As a new entrant to the 'white' wood particle space, Moelven Industrier is investing 270 million Norwegian kroner (approximately 27.7 million euros) in integrated wood pellets and bioenergy power plants at its Soknesbruket sawmill. The project is the first of its kind in Norway. Co-financed by Enova SF.
Enova SF is a funding agency for the Norwegian Ministry of Climate and Environment, which is responsible for supporting the development of energy and climate technologies. It is supporting the investment with a total of NOK 66 million (about 6.8 million euros).
A unique feature of the new energy integration project is that it will be the first pellet plant in Norway to be efficiently integrated with the sawmill. A large part of the total investment is the new 24 MW bioenergy plant, which will be a saw. Wood mills and pellet factories provide energy. At the same time, the residual heat lost from the sawmill will be recycled and used to produce white particles.
According to the contents of the joint statement, calculations show that the use of this integrated energy recovery solution - its technical details have not been announced - compared to traditional production solutions, energy consumption in pellet production can be reduced by up to 37%.
We believe that it is exciting to pave the way for Norwegian bioenergy innovation and energy-efficient production methods. Initially, we will send pellets to the international market for sale. Morten Kristiansen, CEO of Moelven Industrier ASA, said that there is the greatest demand there. But we believe that the Norwegian market will follow this footstep.
The project is based on the Moelven Soknabruket AS and is expected to begin construction in the fall of 2018, subject to approval by the relevant authorities. Factory commissioning is expected to begin at the end of 2019, and pellet production will begin in the first quarter of 2020. The pellets produced will be certified by ENplus and have FSC and PEFC sustainability certification.
Moelven announced in Norway that it will build a plant with an annual capacity of 80,000 tons of pellets, indicating a new direction, marking a new area of the wood group, which also established a new division: Moelven Pellets AS.
'For Moelven, it is important to manage the wood in the best way. When half of the logs become fiber products, this is a very sustainable and profitable way to manage the residual raw materials,' Kristiansen said.
Timber pile (from Moelven's official website) Norway's forest industry sector has experienced difficult years in the closure and reduction of pulp mills. However, Moelven's new investment marks the different directions of the use of residues in the Norwegian wood processing industry and further promotes the forest owners and rural communities in Norway. confidence.
'There is an urgent need to develop and apply new climate solutions. We are doing a lot of work to replace fossil energy with renewable energy. The surplus products from Norwegian forests are part of the solution. The technology presented here makes the production of white wood pellets even more Cheaper and more energy efficient. 'The Secretary of State, Halma, said, 'This is green in practice.'
Enova said that Moelven's innovation in the industry facing adversity in recent years is 'very happy'.
We will help companies enter a low-emission society. Future drive technologies are also important in traditional industries. Enova's executive director Nils Kristian Nakstad said that Moelven's energy concept has barely been tested in cold climates, pushing projects to the next level. The stage will be exciting.
Although the forecasts are different, biomass particle industry analysts and observers generally believe that the global wood pellet market is expected to continue to grow - and how much depends on how policies and markets in emerging markets such as China and Southeast Asia are developing.
With an optimistic outlook for the global pellet market and a competitive offering for the world stage, Moelven said it will 'promote' the creation of new pellet production plants in Norway and the Nordic region. About 80 km from the inland deep-water port of Drammen, Moelven Soknabruket seems to be a good starting point.
