UPM biodiesel facility now set in stone

The foundation stone of UPM’s Finland-based biorefinery in Lappeenranta has been laid.

UPM claim the120 million litres a year facility will be ‘the world’s first biorefinery to produce wood-based biodiesel’ and this announcement means the project is running on schedule.

‘Our €150 million investment into Lappeenranta proves this is UPM’s spearhead project and the first step on our way to becoming a producer of advanced second generation biofuels,’ says UPM CEO Jussi Pesonen. ‘The biorefinery is also a focal part in the realisation of our Biofore strategy, combining the bio and forest industries.’

Pesonen adds that the plant with not be receiving any public investment grants and hopes to employ 50 people full-time upon completion.