Deliveries mainly comprise pellets and briquettes, but also shavings. The density of pellets and briquettes is higher than sawdust, which makes them more energy efficient. And when fewer vehicles are needed to transport higher volumes, this efficiency is doubled.
"We haven't seen the end of this yet," says Gustav Tibblin, Director of Business Development at Södra. "Bioenergy is a future issue for all of society, and Södra's raw material has a very high standing in the market. The raw material from our members' estates comes from responsible and certified forestry, and we utilise every part of the tree.
One example of new energy products is the briquettes, or "heat logs," that are made at the sawmill in Kinda. They are symmetrical bricks used as firewood in stoves, and are produced from the chips and sawdust at the final stage of the sawing process, after the timber has been dried and planed. The product is therefore derived from a secondary flow, and demand is growing.
"In two years, our annual production has grown from around 100 to 1,500 pallets," says Patrik Wass, Sawmill Manager at Kinda. "The briquettes burn longer and generate more heat compared with conventional logs."
Energy generation plays a natural role in Södra's operations, according to Gustav Tibblin, and Södra produces energy, electricity and fuel as part of all its processes - in the forest, in the mills and in the sawmills.
