NEWS

(04/09/2015 / rkj)

Metsä Group’s Äänekoski bioproduct mill receives a EUR 32 million investment subsidy for renewable energy

The Finnish Ministry of Employment and the Economy has granted Äänekoski bioproduct mill a EUR 32.1 million investment subsidy for renewable energy. If the prerequisites for the investment are met, the bioproduct mill investment decision will be made this spring.

The investment subsidy enables the use of highly advanced, high-risk energy technologies in, for instance, the recovery boiler and lime kiln equipment solutions. This will make the bioproduct mill the world’s most energy-efficient pulp mill, and the first to operate fully free from fossil fuels. The advanced technologies will also maximise bioenergy production and thus, increase the share of renewable energy in Finland by more than two percentage points. The implementation of new technologies will increase the electricity self-sufficiency of the mill to around 240 per cent, meaning that the mill will produce 2.4 times more electricity than it consumes. The mill will annually produce 1.8 TWh of electricity, which represents 2.5 per cent of the electricity produced in Finland.