Finnpulp announced that the Regional State Administrative Agency has granted the environmental permit for its planned 1.4 billion euro bioproduct mill, which will be built in Sorsasalo, Kuopio, Finland, along with a wastewater treatment facility that will be connected to the plant.
The environmental permit defines the terms for the pulp plant's operation in the production phase, as well as for pipeline installation work and changes made to the shoreline during the construction phase.
According to Finnpulp, production is planned to start in 2020, and the plant's annual production capacity will be 1.2 million tons of softwood pulp. Additionally, the plant will produce other bioproducts, including 60,000 tons of tall oil and 1.5 TWh of bioelectricity per year. 1 TWh of the electricity will be fed into the national grid.
Finnpulp considers the terms of the permit to be strict. The authorities have further tightened the low levels presented in the company's permit application that already met the EU's best practice requirements for the industry.
Finnpulp noted that it is continuing investor negotiations and proceeds with basic plant design. Investment decisions are allocated to the second half of 2018.
Upon completion of the project, the new plant is expected to create 1,500 permanent jobs in Northern Savonia. The plant will require 6.7 million cubic metres of raw wood per year.
Finnpulp is a special purpose company solely founded to manage the investment of a new softwood pulp mill in Finland.
