Metsä Fibre, part of Metsä Group, signed a preliminary agreement with ABB to supply electricity systems to the bioproduct mill in Kemi, Finland. The degree of Finnish origin for the delivery is high, more than 60%. It is estimated that for the entire Metsä Fibre bioproduct mill project the domestic content will be approximately 70%.
The delivery that has been agreed between ABB and Metsä Fibre includes a significant amount of electrification and drives technology that is developed and manufactured in Finland at ABB’s facilities in Vaasa and Helsinki. The preliminary agreement with ABB Finland includes the electrical systems for the entire bioproduct mill, as well as installations from high-voltage grid to mill’s internal electricity distribution system and electric motors. The value of the total delivery that has now been agreed would be approximately EUR 40 million. The total investment of the Metsä Fibre’s bioproduct mill is approximately EUR 1,5 billion.
In addition to ABB, three other main partners have already been selected for the bioproduct mill project. Valmet would supply all the main equipment and automation, Fimpec would be the contractor for civil construction, and AFRY would be responsible for the engineering of the construction phase. Metsä Fibre has had long and successful cooperation with the aforementioned partners on projects that are strategically important to the company, such as the Äänekoski bioproduct mill project in Finland.
Metsä Group’s Kemi bioproduct mill project is progressing in many fronts, for example through financing negotiations and the development of the logistics needed for the new mill. Preparatory work is ongoing at the mill area in Kemi to ensure the smooth start of bioproduct mill construction immediately after the investment decision has been made. The investment decision is expected to be made earliest in the autumn of 2020 as the environmental permit process is completed.
The Kemi bioproduct mill would produce annually 1.5 million tonnes of softwood and hardwood pulp, as well as numerous other bioproducts. It would employ approximately 250 people directly at the mill area in Kemi, and approximately 2,500 in its entire direct value chain in Finland. This is around 1,500 employees more than the current pulp mill. The bioproduct mill’s annual use of pulpwood, mainly procured in Finland, would be approximately 7.6 million cubic metres, 4.5 million cubic metres more than the present pulp mill.
During the construction phase, the bioproduct mill’s employment impact is estimated to be nearly 10,000 person-years, of which more than half would be carried out in Kemi. The number of workers during the construction phase is estimated to rise to around 15,000. The design of the new bioproduct mill is based on high environmental, energy and material efficiency. The best available technology will be used in the construction of the mill. The mill would not use any fossil fuels at all, and its electricity self-sufficiency rate would be 250 per cent. This would strengthen Metsä Group’s leading position as an electricity producer based on renewable Finnish fuels.
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