Metsä Fibre, part of Metsä Group, and Kelvion B.V. have concluded an agreement on the supply of cooling towers to the bioproduct mill under construction in Kemi. The agreement encompasses the design, manufacture and installation of cooling towers. The design of the fossil free bioproduct mill is based on high environmental, energy and material efficiency. Despite production increasing, the new bioproduct mill will remain below the limits set in the environmental permit for the current Kemi pulp mill. The bioproduct mill will feature the best available technology (BAT) – or even more advanced technologies, as represented by the cooling towers from Kelvion.
“We are investing more and more in environmental performance as our Kemi bioproduct mill project progresses. The mill’s cooling towers are a good example of this. They enable us to build a closed cooling water cycle and discharge the thermal load into the atmosphere instead of the sea, ensuring that the ice conditions at sea remain unchanged. This is a significant investment in both equipment and equipment use. The minimisation of noise level was one of the aspects we emphasised when selecting the equipment. Having Kelvion as our partner ensures that we meet the high requirements set for the mill’s technology. It is also a pleasure to continue our good cooperation in this major project,” says Jari-Pekka Johansson, Project Director at Metsä Fibre.
“Kelvion’s long experience in the paper and pulp industry will be harnessed in our agreement with Metsä Fibre for the supply of cooling towers to the Kemi bioproduct mill project. We are pleased to be able to work on this project with one of the leading companies in the field and to contribute to minimising the environmental impact of the new mill,” says Tijs Mekel, Sales Director at Kelvion.
Kelvion, a leading global manufacturer of heat exchangers, provides solutions for industrial needs. The company has previously supplied cooling towers also to Metsä Fibre’s Rauma sawmill.
Metsä Group’s Kemi bioproduct mill project is progressing as planned. During the construction phase, the mill’s employment effect will be approximately 10,000 person-years, more than half of which will be seen in Kemi. The total number of employees working during the construction phase is estimated to be about 15,000. The investment in the new mill will secure the 250 jobs at the current Kemi mill for the coming decades. Through its direct value chain, the new bioproduct mill will employ around 2,500 people in Finland, some 1,500 more than the employment effect of the current Kemi pulp mill. The bioproduct mill project has a high degree of Finnish origin, approximately 70 per cent.
Totalling EUR 1.6 billion, the investment in Metsä Group’s Kemi bioproduct mill is the largest in the history of the Finnish forest industry. The fully fossil free bioproduct mill will start up in the third quarter of 2023. In addition to pulp, the new mill will produce other bioproducts such as tall oil, turpentine and bioelectricity.