Valmet-delivered Metsä Fibre Kemi bioproduct mill started up in Finland

On Wednesday, September 20, 2023, Metsä Fibre’s Kemi bioproduct mill in Finland was successfully started up. The material, environmental and energy efficient mill will not use any fossil fuels, and it will produce two terawatt hours (TWh) of renewable electricity per year. Valmet’s technology and automation contribute to sustainable operation and high-quality end-product.

The new mill is located at the same site with an old pulp mill which was decommissioned. After the start-up the production process will be fine-tuned for full-scale production, which will be achieved within approximately one year from start-up.

Valmet’s delivery covers the full production process from wood handling to baling as well as flow control solutions and mill-wide automation systems. Annual pulp production capacity will be 1.5 million tonnes and in addition the mill will produce various other bioproducts.

“The start-up of the mill is an important milestone for us and now our joint effort towards next milestones continues. I’m looking forward to see how the most significant investment in the history of the Finnish forest industry will achieve its full production capacity," says Jari-Pekka Johansson, Director of the bioproduct mill project at Metsä Fibre.

“By combining Valmet’s innovative process technology, automation and services we have delivered a solution representing leading sustainability performance with minimized emissions. As an example, energy efficiency is improved with steam integration between evaporation and digester, and with new pulp drying features. The advanced mill-wide automation system and integrated industrial internet applications help to optimize the mill’s production efficiency,” says Sami Riekkola, Pulp and Energy Business Line President at Valmet.

About Valmet’s technology and automation delivery

The mill features leading process technology and the most advanced automation systems. Valmet's delivery includes the wood handling, cooking and fiber line, pulp drying and baling, evaporation, recovery boiler, recausticizing, lime kiln, biomass dryer and gasifier, ash crystallization, mill-wide non-condensable gases (NCG) handling solution, and dry and wet electrostatic precipitators (ESP) for the recovery boiler and lime kiln. Valmet also delivered the sulfuric acid plant which uses the mills own odorous gases to produce sulfuric acid. In addition, Valmet delivered a rebuild of the existing fiber line including new chip feeding and washing systems.

Valmet’s automation delivery includes a mill wide Valmet DNA automation system, plant information management system, Valmet IQ Quality Management System, advanced process controls, as well as analyzers and measurements package.

The industrial internet solutions embedded in the delivery include analytics tools, monitoring and optimization applications, simulators for selected process, as well as Valmet Performance Center connectivity. With mill-wide automation system the mill can run in a balanced way, control the process and ensure it runs flawlessly with high quality, cost-effectiveness and environmental efficiency.

Information about the customer Metsä Fibre

Metsä Fibre is a globally leading producer of bioproducts, biochemicals and bioenergy. The company is the world’s leading producer of bleached softwood pulp and a major producer of sawn timber. It employs approximately 1,600 people and the company’s sales in 2022 totaled EUR 3.1 billion. Metsä Fibre is part of Metsä Group.

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For further information, please contact:  
Sami Riekkola, President, Pulp and Energy business line, Valmet, tel. +358 40 542 7437
Emilia Torttila-Miettinen, President, Automation Systems business line, Valmet, tel. +358 40 831 7595

Valmet is a leading global developer and supplier of process technologies, automation and services for the pulp, paper and energy industries. With our automation systems and flow control solutions we serve an even wider base of process industries. Our 17,500 professionals around the world work close to our customers and are committed to moving our customers’ performance forward – every day.

The company has over 220 years of industrial history and a strong track record in continuous improvement and renewal. In 2022, a major milestone was achieved when the flow control company Neles was merged into Valmet. Valmet’s net sales in 2022 were approximately EUR 5.1 billion. 

Valmet’s shares are listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki and the head office is in Espoo, Finland.     

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