Södra is investing another SEK 500 million in energy efficiency, this time at its Värö pulp mill. New equipment will enable surplus bark with an energy value of 200 GWh/year to be sold on the open market. Södra is also investing approximately SEK 90 million in a number of projects at its mill in Mönsterås.
In 2005-2006, Södra invested almost SEK 600 million in new turbines at its three Swedish pulp mills, which now generate close to 300 GWh per year of surplus electricity.
Södra Cell’s board today agreed the latest investment in energy which includes a new evaporation plant (a key part of the pulp mill’s recovery process) and a bark drying kiln to be built at Södra Cell Värö at a cost of approximately SEK 500 million. The project will minimise the need for bark combustion in the process and enable surplus bark to be processed to a high-value biofuel while also reducing the mill’s demand for heating oil.
Once up and running, the new plant’s annual deliveries of surplus bark are expected to have an energy value equivalent to 200 GWh. Total reduction of fossil-fuel based carbon dioxide will be 75,000 tonnes per year, making the mill independent of fossil fuel during normal operations.
“We see this as a natural step in our ongoing campaign to make energy use more effective,” says Södra Cell president, Sten Holmberg.
“Energy has become an increasingly important part of our business operations and this investment enables us to further reduce our use of fossil fuel in the mill process, a key task in light of the climate issue.”
The investment package approved today by the Södra Cell board also includes four measures at Södra Cell Mönsterås with a total value of some SEK 90 million. The investments involve energy efficiency and reinvestments in the recovery boiler and post-screening.
Footnotes:
Södra Cell is the market pulp division of the Södra Group and the largest market pulp producer in Europe. In terms of electrical energy, 200 GWh is equivalent to the electricity needed to heat 10,000 homes.