Metsä Group’s bioproduct mill in Äänekoski, Finland, leads the way towards a carbon neutral society

Metsä Fibre Äänekoski mill
Type of organisation or company
Country
Finland
City
Äänekoski
Language for original content
Project elaborated in partnership
Yes
Submitted by
Metsa Group
Start/End date
Ongoing
Yes
Expected end date
07/2018
Type of funding
Metsä Group - Ilkka Poikolainen
Description


Metsä Group has created the first next-generation bioproduct mill concept, which means they have raise resource-efficiency to a totally new level. The environmental performance of the new Äanekoski mill is very good: even if pulp production increases 2.5 times compared to the earlier mill at the site, the environmental impact remains at the former level. The new recovery boiler is the most energy efficient in the world as it produces 2.4 times the electricity the mill consumes. This allows the mill to deliver significant amounts of energy to the national grid, representing 2.5% of the electricity produced domestically in Finland. In addition, the mill is completely fossil free, as it uses only biofuels, even in exceptional situations such as maintenance shutdowns.

The Äanekoski bioproduct mill has been designed to use 100% of the industrial side streams to produce a wide range of bioproducts within the industrial ecosystem by the site, as is displayed in the image below:

All parts of wood to high added value products

More information regarding the innovations underlying the Aanekoski bioproduct mill can be accessed through this video:

Main activity field
Main results
  1. The new mill generates renewable electricity 2.4 times the amount it consumes.
  2. All the wood to the mill comes from sustainably managed forests.
  3. The mill is a flagship project of resource-wise bioeconomy and circular economy in using both the raw material and the production side streams efficiently. For example sludge, one of the production side streams, is used for biogas production.
  4. Another example of circular economy solutions is capturing sulphur emissions and converting them back to sulphuric acid for the process of the mill. 
  5. The major investment is bringing more than 2,500 jobs throughout the value chain in Finland, including 1,500 new jobs.
  6. The mill will also diversify the structure of the Finnish forest economy and bioeconomy by introducing new bioproducts.