Main Features:
Partnerships
Metsä Wood and the town of Lohja
Powering its own production through a bioheating plant
Project Description
Metsä Wood, part of the Finnish Metsä Group, manufactures Kerto LVL® products for wood construction in Lohja, Finland. The wood always comes from 100% traceable sources. Over 90% of wood used at the mill is certified. Kerto LVL offers a wide range of solutions to global challenges in the entire value chain – locally in sourcing and production, and internationally in construction.
At Metsä Wood, the resource-wise use of wood drives operations and development. The yield of the mill has risen steadily due to careful planning and technological innovations. Part of the resource-wise operations, the side streams of Kerto LVL production are targeted to the highest value uses: sawdust and wood chips are used in pulp production and the rest, such as bark and other smaller fractions, to produce renewable energy at the local bioheating plant for running the mill and producing Kerto LVL with 100% bioenergy.
Project Purpose
The bioheating plant was built next to the Lohja mill to capture the full potential of the production side streams. The heat energy production exceeds the mill’s needs. This means that Kerto LVL is made with 100% renewable energy and the energy provides district heat to the surrounding town of Lohja which supports the town’s aim to become a low-carbon society. Building the bioheat plant was one of the main projects in the wider development programme for improving yield and energy efficiency.
Project Evaluation
Metsä Wood Kerto LVL production in Lohja is virtually run with wood-based bioenergy. Natural gas is used only to support the process in exceptional circumstances.
The bioheating plant was built in cooperation with Metsä Wood and the town of Lohja. “The local bioheat plant significantly supports our ambitious low-carbon energy goals,” says Lohja Mayor, Mika Sivula. Lohja participates in Finland’s national scheme to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2030. According to the Mayor, “the bioheat plant covers 80% of Lohja’s heating needs. With this significant energy production, the town accomplished its first milestone: by 2016, we reduced our greenhouse gas emissions by 15%.”
Jouni Laakso
Manager of Metsä Wood Lohja mill and the bioheating plant.
“As the sidestreams of Kerto LVL production are utilised either in Metsä Group’s pulp production or at the mill for renewable energy production, resource efficiency is optimised and traffic emissions are minimised. This is really important as, on a global perspective, the production of construction materials is the most energy-intensive phase in the entire life cycle of a building. In buildings, Kerto LVL is an outstanding material, the structures are durable though light and wood as a carbon storage medium is a welcome solution for global challenges. Each cubic metre of wood in a building captures one tonne of carbon from the atmosphere – not contributing to the greenhouse effect.”
