St1 inaugurates waste-based ethanol plant in Gothenburg

St1 Biofuels Oy's first Etanolix ethanol plant has been delivered to the international market and was inaugurated on 5 June in Gothenburg, Sweden.

The 5 million litres per year ethanol plant, which was delivered to North European Bio Tech Oy (NEB), converts bio-waste and process residues from local bakeries and bread from shops into ethanol for transport fuel.

The production capacity of the plant will be leased to North European Oil Trade Oy (NEOT). NEOT is the sister company of NEB and it is the most significant independent fuel supply company in the Baltic Sea region. It delivers fuels to major Nordic service station chains – ABC, St1 and Shell – with a total 1,500 service stations operating across Finland, Sweden and Norway.

The facility is fully integrated into the functions and logistics of St1's oil refinery in Gothenburg and this will yield synergy benefits in the use of residual heat and cooling, and in product distribution. The plant will be operated by the refinery staff.

Finland-headquartered St1 is a pioneer in waste-based ethanol production and production technologies. In Finland, there are already four Etanolix plants and one Bionolix plant which produce ethanol from bio-waste. The first Cellunolix plant using sawdust as a feedstock, will begin production in Kajaani, Finland next year.

'Building the ethanol plant in Gothenburg is a significant launch on the international market for us. Our scalable Etanolix concept is a finished export product. Ethanol produced using our technology generates virtually no lifecycle fossil emissions,' says Patrick Pitkänen, head of business development and sales at St1 Biofuels.

NEOT's MD Henrikki Talvitie adds: 'By investing in biofuel production of our own, we are strengthening our sourcing of biofuels and supporting our strategy of fulfilling growing biofuels mandate," says, Managing Director of NEOT.