The new Finnish Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Mr. Ville Skinnari toured the Chempolis Biorefinery Park as a part of his official visit to Oulu. At Chempolis Minister Skinnari was hosted by CEO Tomi Honkala who briefed the Minister on the Chempolis’ renowned biorefining formico-technologies that turn biomass into high-quality products profitably and responsibly. “Chempolis is an excellent example of the Finnish ingenuity on how you can create a functioning bioeconomy business and participate simultaneously in solving the global climate crisis. Supporting this kind of technical and innovative progress is high on the agenda of the Finnish government”, commended Minister Skinnari.
Minister Skinnari was also given an up-to-date on the biorefinery project which Chempolis has started in the Indian state of Assam with the Finnish energy company Fortum and NRL, a state-owned Indian oil company.
”Our joint venture is currently finalizing the technical process details. Construction work of the refinery has started and is proceeding well. Target date for beginning operations at the site is set for the year 2021”, CEO Honkala said.
The biorefinery will use 300,000 tons of bamboo annually from the vast natural and cultivated bamboo reserves of Northeast India. The plant will produce annually 60 million litres of bioethanol, 19,000 tons of furfural, 11,000 tons of acetic acid, and 144 gigawatt hours of green energy. Chempolis is the licensor of the plant’s advanced technology and is providing technical expertise.
In addition, Minister Skinnari had discussions with the CEO of NRL Mr. S.K. Barua who is visiting Chempolis Biorefining Park from India.
”NRL has invested heavily on the co-operation with Chempolis in India. We believe strongly that Chempolis’ technology is the future and the investment return rate will be excellent compared to the other technologies. The goal of the Indian government is to increase bioethanol’s share from the current 3.3% to 20% by 2030. Accomplishing this goal will require the construction of many more similar plants the size of the biorefinery our joint venture is constructing. It will be a huge market”, told CEO Barua.