Project Description

UPM Hürth is the world’s most modern newsprint mill, with annual production capacity of 330,000 tonnes of newsprint-grade paper made entirely from recycled fibre. The mill is located in an industrial park near Cologne, Germany, in a region that is today shaped by industrial scale lignite extraction and related industries. Lignite has also been the fuel used to provide steam and electricity for a number of companies, including UPM Hürth.

Project Purpose

Together with German utility E.ON, UPM initiated a project to establish a green power source to provide process heat for paper production at the mill and green power for a large number of surrounding companies. E.ON is building a wood-fired biomass plant with a total generation capacity of 20MW of electricity and 87MW thermal generation capacity. Upon ramp-up in 2022, this power plant will replace the current lignite-based generation, contributing to an annual reduction of Scope 1 CO2 emissions of 300,000 tonnes for UPM alone.

Project Evaluation

This project supports UPM’s ambitious climate targets of a net emission reduction of 65% by 2030 and the company’s long-term pledge to achieve carbon neutrality by 2040. What’s more, it is also an enabler for the transition of the German power system away from fossil power generation by providing a stable and sustainable power generation, which is needed to support efficient use of the increasing capacity of fluctuating renewable power generation sources in Germany. Thus, UPM Green Steam Hürth is a cross-stakeholder project that enables a positive contribution of the pulp and paper industries to solving the global climate crisis