Metsä Fibre, part of Metsä Group, has awarded AFRY the engineering services assignment for the new sawmill in Rauma, Finland as well as project management and engineering services assignment for the new bioproduct mill in Kemi, Finland. The key objectives of these investments are increased environmental efficiency and fossil free operations by utilising advanced technology and a high level of digitalisation.
Metsä Fibre and AFRY started the pre-engineering of Metsä Fibre’s investments, totalling approximately Euro 2 billion, in the spring of 2019.
Metsä Fibre has made the decision to build the world’s most modern sawmill in Rauma. Construction will begin in the spring of 2020. Production at the sawmill is set to begin during the 3Q 2022. The coronavirus outbreak may have an impact on the schedules.
Metsä Fibre has awarded AFRY the construction phase engineering assignment including detail engineering of all disciplines. The contract is a continuation of the pre-engineering phase in which AFRY has been involved since spring 2019. The new sawmill will be a worldwide forerunner both in technology and in efficiency. For example, using machine vision and artificial intelligence in different stages of the sawing process is a significant new development. Similar technology is not yet in use anywhere else in the sawmill industry.
Metsä Fibre’s planned Kemi bioproduct mill would produce 1.5 million tonnes of softwood and hardwood pulp a year as well as numerous other bioproducts.
Metsä Fibre has signed a letter of intent with AFRY regarding project management and engineering services during the possible construction phase of the Kemi bioproduct mill. AFRYs assignment in the pre-engineering of the Kemi bioproduct mill continues, and Metsä Group expects to be ready to make a decision on this approximately Euro 1.5 billion mill investment in the autumn of 2020.
AFRY’s assignment includes Project Management services for the whole mill and all engineering disciplines for Balance of Plant (BOP). In addition AFRY will coordinate the overall digitalisation of the mill with BIM (Building Information Modeling) and PIM (Process Information Modeling) of the project including the establishment of SSOT (Single-Source-of-Truth) concept towards a digital twin, enabling the use of efficient digital applications to boost mill performance. The contract is conditional upon investment decision, and AFRY continues pre-engineering until the final investment decision.
