Stora Enso and Neste Oil inaugurate biofuels demonstration facility at Varkaus in Finland
STORA ENSO OYJ PRESS RELEASE 11 June 2009 at 06.00 GMT
Stora Enso and Neste Oil inaugurate today the demonstration plant at Varkaus for biomass to liquids (BtL) production utilising forestry residues. A 50/50 joint venture NSE Biofuels Oy, has been established first to develop technology and later to produce in commercial-scale biocrude for renewable diesel. The demonstration facility at Stora Enso Varkaus Mill includes a 12 MW gasifier. It will be used to develop technologies and engineering solutions for a commercial-scale plant. The demonstration process units will cover all stages, including drying of biomass, gasification, gas cleaning and testing of Fischer-Tropsch catalysts. “The inauguration of the facility in Varkaus is an important development step for us in our efforts to discover new renewable raw materials for traffic fuels, and forms an integral part of our contribution to helping society reach the climate-related goals set for traffic by the EU,” says Matti Lievonen, President and CEO of Neste Oil. “Biomass-based renewable fuels represent a significant future business opportunity. This will require further development work and competitive forest industry mills to host the future commercial units. This continuously operated demonstration facility takes us a step closer to this goal,” states Jouko Karvinen, CEO of Stora Enso. The Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation (Tekes) provided funding for NSE Biofuels Oy's R&D through its programme BioRefine - New Biomass Products, and the Finnish Ministry of Employment and the Economy provided finance for the demonstration facility investment. This support enabled the project to be increased in scope and developed more rapidly. For further information, please contact: Antti Jääskeläinen, SVP, Biorefining & Bioenergy, Stora Enso, tel. +46 1046 716 57 Reino Panula, General Manager, Stora Enso Varkaus Mill, tel. +358 2046 32740 Lauri Peltola, Head of Group Communications, Stora Enso, tel. +358 2046 21380 Ulla Paajanen-Sainio, SVP, Investor Relations tel. +358 2046 21242 www.storaenso.com www.storaenso.com/investors Photos from Varkaus are available at http://bmt.storaenso.com/storaensolink.jsp?imageid=090611 Please copy the link into your web browser. Previous press release concerning Stora Enso's and Neste Oil's biofuel co-operation available at www.storaenso.com/press - 16 March 2007: Stora Enso and Neste Oil to join forces in biofuel development Stora Enso is the world leader in forest industry sustainability. We offer our customers solutions based on renewable raw materials. Our products provide a climate-friendly alternative to many non-renewable materials, and have a smaller carbon footprint. Stora Enso is included in the Global 100 list of the world's most sustainable companies. Stora Enso is also listed in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, the FTSE4Good Index, and the Climate Disclosure Leadership Index. Stora Enso employs 29 000 people worldwide, and our sales in 2008 amounted to EUR 11.0 billion. Neste Oil Corporation is a refining and marketing company concentrating on low-emission, high-quality traffic fuels. The company's target is to be the world's leading supplier of renewable diesel. Neste Oil's refineries are located in Porvoo and Naantali and have a combined crude oil refining capacity of approximately 260 000 barrels a day. The company had net sales of EUR 15 billion in 2008 and employs around 5 200 people. Neste Oil's share is listed on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki. www.nesteoil.com.