The €1.2bn mill is designed to produce 1.3 million tones of pulp per year and bioproducts such as tall oil, turpentine, lignin products, bioelectricity and bark-based solid fuel.
In particular, the mill uses by-products, largely left over from the pulping process, to generate and sell renewable electricity.
Finland has granted €32.1m in funding to partially cover an investment in renewable energy and energy efficiency measures to allow the Äänekoski mill to operate without burning the heavy fuel oil and use less energy per unit of output compared to similar plants.
The project is also backed by €275m loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB).
Expected to create 6000 jobs during construction phase and another 2500 jobs in the longer term, the project is expected to be fully self-sufficient in terms of energy.
It will also feed renewable electricity into the Finnish grid.
Following analysis, the EC found that the Finnish investment aid complies with EU state aid rules and did not exceed the allowable compensation for the investment cost in renewable energy and energy efficiency.
In addition to achieving significant energy savings, the Metsä project is expected to increase the renewable energy share in Finland by more than 2% upon commissioning in 2017.
Image: Drawing of the proposed Äänekoski bioproduct mill in Finland. Photo: © Metsä Group/ABB.
