Stora Enso and Volvo Cars to inaugurate renewable energy pipeline

Collaboration enables Volvo Car Gent to cut CO₂ emissions by more than 40 per cent.

Stora Enso and Volvo Cars officially opened a new hot water pipeline between their manufacturing sites in Ghent, Belgium, on 18 November 2016. The four-kilometre pipeline will take hot water heated using renewable energy from Stora Enso’s paper mill to the Volvo plant, where it will be used to heat buildings and paint booths. The annual reductions in CO₂ emissions correspond to the heating of 5 000 households.

Bart Tommelein, Minister of Energy of the Flemish Government, ceremoniously opened the valves of the pipeline together with the managing directors of Volvo Car Gent and Stora Enso’s Langerbrugge Mill, Eric Van Landeghem and Chris De Hollander.

Thanks to the pipeline, Volvo Cars will use substantially lower amounts of fossil fuels for heating – also reducing the plant’s CO₂ emissions and energy costs. The project will lead to emission reductions estimated at 15 000 tonnes of CO₂ per year, cutting the Ghent plant’s total CO₂ emissions by more than 40 per cent.

Volvo Car Group has a stated ambition to be among the leaders in climate neutral operations and energy efficiency. The joint project with Stora Enso takes the company a significant step closer to this goal, reducing its Europe-wide CO₂ emissions by 24 per cent.

Stora Enso has committed to reduce the company’s use of fossil fuels to as close to zero as is technically and economically feasible over the next ten years. This cooperation with Volvo is an example of the collaborative efforts Stora Enso is taking to combat global warming. Twelve of Stora Enso's mills are currently linked to local district heating systems, significantly reducing the use of oil and other fossil fuels in these localities. The project in Belgium was initiated in 2014.

“We are extremely pleased to be able to lower our CO₂ emissions and energy costs in line with our efforts to improve our internal efficiency and promote sustainability, both in the cars we make and in our production processes”, says Eric Van Landeghem, managing director of Volvo Car Gent.

“The construction of a system of industrial district heating outside our premises and the delivery of external renewable energy to Volvo Car Gent will lead to increased energy efficiency, which is beneficial to the environment and increases the use of our assets,” says Chris De Hollander, managing director of Stora Enso’s Langerbrugge Mill.

Stora Enso’s paper mill at Langerbrugge produces 550 000 tonnes of newsprint and magazine paper a year, made entirely from recycled paper.

For further information, please contact:
Liisa Nyyssönen, SVP Communications Paper Division, tel. +358 40 544 3491

Attachment: Factsheet

Stora Enso is a leading provider of renewable solutions in packaging, biomaterials, wooden constructions and paper on global markets. Our aim is to replace fossil based materials by innovating and developing new products and services based on wood and other renewable materials. We employ some 26 000 people in more than 35 countries, and our sales in 2015 were EUR 10.0 billion. Stora Enso shares are listed on Nasdaq Helsinki (STEAV, STERV) and Nasdaq Stockholm (STE A, STE R). In addition, the shares are traded in the USA as ADRs (SEOAY) on the International OTCQX over-the-counter market. storaenso.com 

STORA ENSO OYJ

For further information, please contact:
Liisa Nyyssönen
SVP Communications Paper Division
tel. +358 40 544 3491