The Foundation Stone of Joensuu Biocoal Oy's Biocoal Plant was Laid at the End of November

The construction of Joensuu Biocoal Oy's biocoal plant has started. The facility that produces torrefied biomass, or biochar, will be built on Savon Voima's site in the Iiksenvaara industrial area.

The laying of the foundation stone was celebrated in heavy November snowfall. Savon Voima's CEO Arto Sutinen recalled the year 2020, when Joensuu Biocoal Oy's board chairman Tero Saarno called and asked about Savon Voima's interest in the project.

- Many stones have been turned, ground and stacked so that the project is now at this stage. This is a great project that combines both the utilisation of side streams and the green transition. It is important for the entire region of Eastern Finland. Thank you to all the parties who have been involved in making this possible.

At the time of completion, the largest in Europe

When completed, the plant will be the largest biochar plant in Europe and the first industrial-scale plant with this technology. It produces 60,000 tons of biochar per year. Production will probably start in December 2024.

The employment effect of the construction of the facility is approximately 60 person-years of work. After completion, it will directly employ around 10 people and indirectly 100-120 people in the raw material and logistics chains. The value of the factory investment is around 20 million euros.

Biochar is produced by roasting wood. It can replace coal in, for example, cement and steel production. Torrefied biomass is less emitting than coal, and its production process does not generate much carbon dioxide emissions.

- Replacing coal in the heavy process industry has been quite a big problem until today. Torrefied biomass is perhaps the best alternative for that, says Tero Saarno.

The factory uses side streams from the forest industry and forest management as raw material, such as small-sized logs and tree bark, about 250,000 cubic meters per year.‍

A clean energy cluster is emerging

The raw material is supplied to the factory by Itä-Suomen Biomassa Oy, jointly owned by Savon Voima and Taaleri. The waste heat from the production is fed into the Joensuu district heating network.

A clean energy cluster is being built in Joensuu's Iiksenvaara. Savon Voima's CHP power plant already operates in the area. Alongside it and the biochar plant, a district heating battery and a heat pump plant are coming. In addition, the plans include a solar power plant and a green hydrogen production plant.

Additional information:

‍Tero Saarno
Managing Director
Taaleri Bioindustry
+358 50 373 1923
tero.saarno@taaleri.com

Iiro Tiilikainen
Project Director
Taaleri Bioindustry
+358 44 491 5922
iiro.tiilikainen@taaleri.com