The order value for Andritz is over 100 million euros. Start-up of the mill is scheduled for third quarter of 2017. The core equipment supplied by Andritz will originate largely from Finland and thus will have a significant positive employment impact on Andritz’s engineering staff located in Kotka, Lahti and Varkaus as well as on the Andritz workshop located in Savonlinna where a big part of the core equipment for this contract will be fabricated.

“The bioproduct mill in Äänekoski is the largest investment of the forest industry in Finland. Competence, reliability and successful cooperation in previous large investments were emphasized when we made a decision of the key technology suppliers”, says Ilkka Hämälä, CEO of Metsä Fibre Oy.

Andritz’s scope of supplies includes the core equipment for:

• A complete wood processing plant with three debarking and chipping lines, three stacker-reclaimer chip handling systems, and bark handling. Each debarking line can process both softwood and hardwood and is designed for world record capacities (pine/spruce/birch: 470/350/270 m³ solid-over-bark per hour), and includes a de-icing conveyor, a debarking drum (5 x 48 meter), and the world’s biggest horizontally fed HHQ chipper, ensuring high capacity without compromising the chip quality.
• A softwood and hardwood fiberline comprising a chip feeding system, a two-vessel continuous cooking plant, a new evaporation system for liquor extraction, and seven DD (Drum Displacer) washers for brownstock washing and bleaching. The softwood capacity of this line will be the highest in the world (3,900 tons per day).
• The world’s most energy-efficient black liquor evaporation plant with the highest capacity in Europe (1,650 tons/hour). The plant is closely connected to the fiberline using Andritz’s latest innovative and patented solutions, and thus creating the most energy efficient overall combination for the mill. The plant will have seven stages and concentrate black liquor to the very high dry solids content of 85% for efficient combustion in the recovery boiler. In addition, Andritz will also deliver chloride removal systems to enhance the chemical recovery process and to produce liquid methanol, which will be used as a biofuel source.