GASIFICATION FROM
THE VIEWPOINT OF
THE FINNISH FOREST
INDUSTRY
SVENSKT GASTEKNISKT CENTER AB
INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR ON GASIFICATION
GÖTEBORG 17.10.2013
PhD Juha Fiskari
OUTLINE
• FOREST RESOURCES IN FINLAND
• DRIVING FORCES FOR BIOREFINERIES
• GASIFICATION PROJECTS WITHIN THE FINNISH
FOREST INDUSTRY
Forestry in Finland
• Annual removals have been since 1970’s clearly
lower than the annual growth
• Annual removals include loggings, residuals left
in forests, and trees that die naturally
• In 2012, the growth of the Finnish forests was
104 million cubic meters
• In 2011, the removals amounted to 71 million
cubic meters. Removals increased to 68% of the
annual growth.
Source: METLA
Forest resources in Finland
• Theoretically, Finland could produce 170 PJ of transport fuels
from logging residuals (treetops, branches, stumps, etc.)
• The consumption of transportation fuels was 164 PJ in 2004.
Source: Lampinen 2009
Driving forces for biorefineries
• Climate change / CO2 emissions from fossil hydrocarbons
The dependence of imported crude oil declines
• Transport fuels from wood-based raw materials
May not affect food prices or production
• Pulp and paper industry
- Demand for many of the products is not going to recover
- Alternative value-added products?
• Improved image
• EU directives on transport fuels (biodiesel, bioethanol)
Added value of wood: Paper and energy
production in Finland 1995–2010
• In 2001, the added value in the paper and board production was six
times that of the energy production
• In 2010, both industries had about the same added value
Source: Lauri Hetemäki, European Forest Institute & University of Eastern Finland
Total energy consumption in Finland
by manufacturing branch
Source: Statistics Finland
Renewable energy sources
in Finland 1970–2011
Source: Statistics Finland
EU directives are important drivers:
• According to the EU-directive 2003/30/EC, 5.75% of transport
fuels will be renewable by 2010
• The renewable share will be 10% by 2020 (2009/28/EC)
• Double weighting can be applied when biofuel is derived from
wood waste, other waste, inedible cellulose or lignocellulose
-> the necessary quantity to meet the biofuel distribution
obligation is halved. In Finland, the consumption is estimated
at 730,000 t in 2020 -> necessary quantity is then 365,000 t.
Gasification-based biorefinery
Source: VTT
Finnish forest industry’s
biogasification projects
• UPM-Kymmene, NSE Biofuels and Forest Btl applied for NER300 (New
Entrants’ Reserve) funding to build gasification plants with forestry-based
feedstock.
- NSE Biofuels is a joint venture between Stora Enso and Neste Oil.
- Forest Btl Oy is a joint venture between Metsäliitto and Vapo.
• NER300 is a financial instrument managed jointly by the European
Commission, European Investment Bank (EIB) and Member States
- subsidizes installations of innovative renewable energy technology
• Co-production of biofuel, heat and electricity—integration to existing pulp &
paper mills and district heating -> high overall efficiency
• Project proposals were assessed by EIB. The projects were ranked by their
cost-per-unit performance.
NSE Biofuels Joint Venture
• Stora-Enso and Neste Oil created a 50/50 joint venture to develop a newgeneration biofuel
- Collaboration with Foster Wheeler Energia Oy and VTT
• Develop gas purification technology, other tried and tested technology already
exists (such as Fischer-Tropsch)
• Pilot plant at the Stora Enso Varkaus mill: gasification and gas purification at 5
MW th scale. Estimated costs were EUR 14 million
• Estimated investing costs for a full-scale plant between 0.6 and 1 billion (EUR)
• Finally, investment decision on commercial production plant was negative due to
the lack of EU support (NER300).
Source: www.storaenso.com
Division of business: Stora Enso,
Joint Venture and Neste Oil
Source: Stora Enso
Forest Btl joint venture
• Vapo’s och Metsäliitto’s biogasification plant in Ajos was the only
project in Finland to receive NER300 funding.
• Project Ajos will receive 88.5 M€ as EU funding for design,
construction and operation of a biofuel-to-liquid (BtL) plant in Kemi.
• The gasification plant has a capacity of 320 MW (2 x 160 MW) with
an annual output of 115,000 tons of biofuel. The annual need for
raw materials is estimated to be 950,000 tons of woody biomass
and 31,000 tons of tall oil.
• According to the plans, the synthetic diesel (and naphtha) is to be
sold in the Baltic Sea region, mainly in Finland and Sweden.
• In June 2012, Metsäliitto withdrew from the project.
• Vapo plans to continue the project with new partners and investors.
Gasification plant in Ajos
Biomass pre-treatment
Gasification island
Gas cleaning and compression
FT synthesis
Refining and storage
of products
Source: Vapo
UPM’s activities in gasification
• UPM-Kymmene repositions itself as a ”Biofore Company”.
• UPM produces 30% of all renewable energy in Finland.
• Ongoing pilot testing at Gas Technology Institute (GTI), near
Chicago, USA ~5 MW / syngas production
• UPM’s planned biogasification plant in Rauma was not prioritized
for a NER300 investment grant, it was placed in the “reserve list”.
• The biogasification project UPM Stracel in France was granted
170 M€ for setting up and operating a biogasification plant that is
integrated with a pulp and paper mill. This facility will produce
about 105,000 tons of FT fuel products.
UPM’s activities in gasification
• UPM is a significant supplier to the Finnish energy company
Vaskiluodon Voima Oy (in Vaasa) that has built the largest
biomass gasification plant in the world to reduce their coal usage
by 25–40%.
- This 140 MW gasification plant started up in March of 2013
- Machinery supplier was Metso Power
Metsä-Fibre’s gasification projects
• Metsä-Fibre’s Joutseno mill has a gasification plant that converts bark to
biofuel that is used at the lime kiln. The plant has a capacity of 48 MW.
• The company plans to set up a similar gasification facility at the Kemi mill.
• Moreover, Metsä-Fibre has plans to collaborate with Gasum Oy and invest
in additional biomethane production in Joutseno, based on gasification of
bark and wood. Its design capacity will be 200 MW.
• The synthetic biogas will have a methane content of 95%. It can be used
in the Helsinki area instead of natural gas imported from Russia.
Source: Gasum
THANK YOU FOR YOUR INTEREST!
Literature:
Ahlbeck, J., Trafikbränslen: Produktionsmöjligheter i Finland, 2006
Börjesson, P. et al., Dagens och framtidens hållbara biodrivmedel.
Underslagsrapport från f3 till utredningen om FossilFri Fordonstrafik, 2013
Konttinen, J., Kohti biojalostamoja – biomassan termokemiallinen jalostus
kaasutuksen avulla, 2009
Lampinen, A, Uusiutuvan liikenne-energian tiekartta, 2009
State of Finland’s Forests 2012 (METLA)
Many other websites, such as Statistics Finland, EU Commission, Ministry
of Employment and the Economy, Stora Enso, UPM-Kymmene, Vapo,
Metsä-Fibre, European Biofuels Technology Platform, Gasum, etc.
Special thanks to professor emeritus Bruno Lönnberg
11.10.2013
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