- Several contract wins totaling €25 million for fossil-free bioproduct mill in Kemi, Finland
- Construction and process electrification services for the modern mill project
- Production of pulp and other bioproducts such as bioelectricity with production equivalent to 2.5% of Finland's total renewable electricity generation
Bilfinger has won several orders with Metsä Fibre, part of Metsä Group, a leading producer of bioproducts, biochemicals and bioenergy, for its new bioproduct mill in Kemi, Northern Finland. With these contracts, Bilfinger assumes responsibility for the construction and process electrification of several process areas at the fully self-sufficient mill. Metsä chose the industrial services provider based on a successful collaboration in the construction of a similar mill in Äänekoski, Finland. The new contracts have an estimated total value of around €25 million and will be booked under Bilfinger's Engineering & Maintenance Europe segment.
“Sustainable, circular bioproduct and bioenergy production aligns with Bilfinger’s mission to support the process industry on its way to decarbonization,” says Duncan Hall, COO at Bilfinger. “Environmental and resource efficiency are important values that we share with Metsä and our comprehensive service portfolio enables us to support all customer requirements.”
Starting in spring 2022, a team of around one hundred employees from Bilfinger Engineering & Maintenance Nordics Oy will assume responsibility for the electrical installation for both the buildings and the processes of the recovery boiler, pulp drying, fiberline and cooking, sulfuric acid plant, evaporation and turbine systems at the bioproduct mill. The mill is designed for electricity self-sufficiency of 250 percent, meaning that no fossil fuels will be needed in the production process of bioproducts such as pulp. The excess bioenergy will be fed into the national grid. The mill will generate 2.0 TWh of renewable electricity per year, equal to roughly 2.5 percent of Finnish total renewable electricity production.
“We signed with Bilfinger because it was important for us to have an experienced and reliable partner who could provide enough highly qualified personnel and a strong local network in the Nordic region. Bilfinger has already demonstrated its very high professional standards in terms of safety, quality and competence on previous occasions, so it was a logical step to extend our collaboration. With Bilfinger’s support, our new bioproduct mill will set global standards in environmental, energy and material efficiency,” says Jari-Pekka Johansson, Project Director of Metsä Fibre.
“We are extremely pleased to continue our relationship with Metsä Fibre in the Kemi project. Bilfinger is committed to helping its customers with safe and efficient project execution and supporting them in achieving sustainable solutions. This project in Finland is therefore of great importance to us,” says Tove Tyberø, Executive President of the Bilfinger Nordics Region.
Once started up in the third quarter of 2023, the Kemi mill will be the largest forest-based production facility in the Northern Hemisphere, using renewable wood from sustainably managed northern forests to produce about 1.5 million tons of softwood and hardwood pulp per year, as well as other bioproducts and biochemicals such as tall oil and turpentine.
Bilfinger Engineering & Maintenance Nordics Oy is a part of Bilfinger Nordics AS, a leading industrial services provider in the Nordic region. The company delivers maintenance, insulation, scaffolding and surface treatment, as well as engineering and project services for the process industry in Norway, Sweden and Finland.
