Outokumpu is investing approximately EUR 30 million in a pelletizing plant for biocoke in Tornio, Finland.
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Outokumpu is a sustainable stainless steel company and is continuously looking for ways to further lower its climate impact across the value chain.
Replacing fossil coke with renewable raw materials from biomass is one of the key drivers to reduce their direct emissions in their operations.
As part of Outokumpu’s strategy to strengthen its leadership in sustainability and secure access to high-quality raw materials, Outokumpu has decided to invest in a pelletizing plant to produce biocoke at its site in Tornio, Finland.
The investment is approximately EUR 30 million and the aim is to start production mid-2025.
The carbon footprint of Outokumpu ferrochrome is 67% smaller compared to the industry average and a further decrease is targeted with the transfer to using biocoke, which is a biomass-based alternative to fossil coke produced from forest and wood industry residues.
During the past year, Outokumpu has been studying the feasibility of establishing its own industrial-scale biocoke production facility and worked on a roadmap for building up the supply for biomass-based raw materials for the future.
It consists of a mixture of own production, external sourcing, and partnerships.
The first step on this journey is to invest in a facility to pelletize externally sourced biocarbon into biocoke at Outokumpu’s site in Tornio, Finland with an annual capacity of 25,000 tonnes.
This helps to reduce CO2 emissions by 82,000 tonnes, which corresponds to the annual emissions of 8,000 Finnish citizens.
Biocoke will be subsequently used in the ferrochrome operations as a reductant to replace fossil coke. Currently, biocoke represents the best-available-technology to replace fossil coke in the ferrochrome production.
The Tornio pilot plant enables Outokumpu to further develop the process and product so that a possible scale-up later could be possible.
In parallel, Outokumpu also continues to plan for further investments to capacity for biocoke production in the future.
As the second phase, they continue to develop the concept for a biocarbon production pilot plant including how to utilize process side stream gases in the most efficient way.
Further investment decisions are planned to be made during 2024 provided that the financial feasibility is proven. ■