More renewable energy than we need

​Did you know that Metsä Group is one of the biggest producers of renewable energy in Finland? Almost 70% of our production units generate renewable energy on site from forest residuals and production side streams.

Metsä Group produces 14% of the renewable energy in Finland. In 2016 the amount of renewable energy we used and sold in the form of electricity, heat or wood-based fuels was 22.3 TWh, which corresponds to the annual energy consumption of 1.1 million detached houses in the Nordic countries.

Wood-based side streams to renewable energy

We are using wood resource wisely, as every part of a tree is used as efficiently as possible. We are continuously looking for the best use for side streams from production. Still, there are always some fractions remaining which are best used for energy generation. To produce renewable energy, we use logging residuals such as branches, bark and sawdust from sawmills as well as fibre containing residuals generated from production. 86% of our production is powered by renewable biobased energy. As a result of investments, the share is growing further.

Metsä Group supports the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), of which the 7th goal is associated with clean energy. Thanks to recent investments, Metsä Group has already decreased its fossil CO2 emissions by 35 % per product tonne and improved its energy efficiency by 6 % from the 2009 levels.

Some examples of our investments

The second bioboiler at Metsä Tissue Katrinefors mill in Sweden was installed in 2015. The boiler provides electricity and heat for the mill and the surrounding community, and has decreased the mill’s reliance on fossil fuels by 90%. A new bioboiler will be introduced at Metsä Tissue Nyboholm in autumn 2017 with the aim of using 100% renewable energy.

In autumn 2017 the project to modernise the energy plant at Metsä Tissue Mänttä mill will be finalised. This investment will raise the share of renewable energy for heat to 60%. Instead of using peat as a fuel we aim to replace it with biomass and dried de-inking sludge from production that would reduce emissions to air significantly.

Metsä Fibre Äänekoski bioproduct mill in Finland producing energy from production’s side streams will be introduced in autumn 2017. The mill increases the share of renewable energy in Finland by at least 2%-points and it produces 2.4 times more electricity than uses. Besides the bioproduct mill also a bark gasification plant will be introduced. The resulting gas will replace fossil fuels in pulp production.

Recent additional projects among othersare are biopowerplant at Metsä Board Kyro mill, bioenergy heating plant at Metsä Wood Lohja Kerto mill and bark gasification plant at Metsä Fibre Joutseno mill. Besides our own energy production we are also supplying remarkable amounts (3.8 TWh) of wood-based fuels for energy generation at external energy producers.