C-Green Technology has secured SEK 22.7m ($2.5m) funding from the Swedish Energy Agency to build a biofuel plant Finland.
Image: C-Green's technology transforms large amounts of wastewater sludge into biofuel. Photo courtesy of C-Green.
The project, which be carried out in cooperation with StoraEnso, will convert industrial biosludge into biofuel.
The plant is expected to produce 13GWh renewable biofuel annually, apart from reducing the StoraEnso mill’s greenhouse gas emissions by the equivalent of 7.000 tons of CO2 per year.
It is expected to become operational during the first half of 2019.
C-Green CEO Erik Odén said: “After several years of work in the lab and with smaller prototypes, it’s exciting to now build the first industrial full-scale plant.
“With our innovative solution, we are convinced that, in principle, we can solve the problems surrounding sludge management today, while at the same time making a significant contribution to protecting the climate and the environment.”
Handling the sludge, which a by-product from industry, agriculture and municipal wastewater treatment plants, presents a difficult problem as it can consists of as much as 85% water.
Using a technique called hydrothermal carbonization, a new technology developed by the Swedish process engineering innovation company C-Green transforms large amounts of wastewater sludge into biofuel.
To produce a dry and clean biocoal that works well as a biofuel, C-Green’s process treats the sludge with pressure and heat.
The StoraEnso mill in Heinola Finland produces corrugated board material. The new plant is expected to convert about 25,000 tons of the mill’s biosludge per year into biocoal.
The biocoal produced in the plant will be used in the power boiler of the mill and to heat the nearby city of Heinola, with nearly 19,000 inhabitants.
Swedish Energy Agency business developer Leif Lyckebäck said: “C-Green’s solution can make a significant contribution to reducing greenhouse gases because it has a commercial potential globally.
“In this project, the technology will be verified in full scale, and it will then be ready for large-scale distribution on the market.”