FEATURE: BIOENERGY IN INDUSTRY THE PULP MILL MANAGER WHO WANTS EXPENSIVE ELECTRICITY AND COLDER WEATHER Jonas Eriksson is the plant manager for Södra Cell Värö, a major pulp mill sited north of Varberg on the Swedish west coast. Owned by the forest owners association Södra, the pulp mill is gearing up to increase capacity significantly. Eriksson is the pulp mill manager who wants high electricity prices and cold weather. Södra Cell Värö is not only one of Sweden’s largest integrated forest product companies, but also a major green energy producer. IN 2010, SÖDRA CELL VÄRÖ became the world’s first carbon-neutral pulp mill. Since then it has gone further and today Värö has a large green energy surplus. The use of fossil fuel is minimal. Instead revenue is generated through sales of different green energy fuels, excess heat and electricity. District heating is supplied to the town of Varberg, dried bark fuel to combined heat and power (CHP) plants in the Mälardalen region, wood pellets from the new pellet plant and tall oil which goes to the Sunpine biodiesel refinery in Piteå. The pulp mill has increased the use of its own fuel and streamlined its production. As of 2014 the lime kiln is fired using wood powder that originated from the sawmill. Integrated pulp- and sawmill Apart from the pulp mill the Värö forest industry complex also houses one of Sweden’s larger softwood sawmills, Södra Timber Värö. Although administratively it is a separate company within Södra Wood, the solid wood business division of Södra, the two production entities are fully integrated energy-wise, leveraging significant synergistic savings. Excess heat from the pulp mill is used to heat the dry kilns at the sawmill as well as the pellet mill dryer. Sawdust from the sawmill is used to fuel the lime kiln at the pulp mill as well as the feedstock for pellet production. By utilising the excess energy the forest products complex can deliver high-quality solid biomass fuels, such as wood pellets and dried bark on the market, as well as liquid biofuels while minimising its own internal energy consumption. Policy driven development – We have had great use of various steering instruments and initiatives introduced by politicians, says Jonas Eriksson. The green electricity certificate scheme has given us a good price for our electricity, and we were fortunate to be able to carry out the investment in a new turbine in 2007 so that we get the full certificate for 15 years. In cooperation with the municipality of Varberg 12 Bioenergy International No 79, 3-2015 some local climate improvement money was used for the district heating project. We have taken advantage of the PFE programme, where we implemented energy efficiency measures in exchange for exemption from electricity tax. Apart from these incentives the overall increase in energy prices has had a significant impact. But why has Södra Cell Värö been so much more successful than many other pulp mills? It is of course also about the people who constantly find new solutions. Jonas Eriksson has been working with technology development at the mill for a long time. His predecessor as manager, Gunilla Saltin, has also had a central role. In addition, part of Södra Foundation for Research, Development and Education is located at Värö and recently the board approved another SEK 50 million allocation to the foundation. New pellet plant Situated right between the sawmill and the pulp mill is the new pellet factory. Symbolic, since the pellet plant, which was commissioned last year, is the latest example of profitable synergy between the pulp mill and sawmill at Värö. – The new sawmill actually provides more sawdust than the old one, says Jonas Eriksson. It has to do with higher throughput and a new type of saw blade. The Värö sawmill has an annual production capacity of around 600 000 m3 sawn goods, 80 percent spruce (Picea abies) and the rest pine (Pinus sylvestris). The sawdust is dried using a low temperature belt-dryer from Stela. The heat for the dryer is residual heat from the pulp mill. – We get 90 ˚C hot water that we put through the heat exchanger. In other words we are not using flue-gases and this gives us a light coloured pellet without any risk of contamination, says Fredrik Tärneberg. The dried sawdust is ground by into a powder of which approximately half the volume, about 43 000 tonnes per annum is fed directly to the lime kiln via a 607 metre-long conveyor supplied by Bruks. The rest of the powder is pelletised in a single pellet press, supplied by Andritz and recently launched onto the market. Approximately 45 000 tonnes per annum of pellets are made available to the market, both bagged and bulk delivery. – Our largest customer right now is Göteborg Energi with the GoBiGas gasification project producing syngas from pellets. We currently supply about nine trucks per day to their facility. The trucks are fuelled by bio-CNG, says Fredrik. Södra has also pellet production at the Långasjö sawmill and these are sold through Södra Wood’s retailer network. In energy terms the new pellet plant supplies 425 GWh in the form of wood powder to the lime kiln and pellets for retail. Three train sets dried bark per week Another example is dried bark that is sold as
Bioenergy no 3 May 2015
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