Linka Group boosts Swedish timber giant

Linka Group, through the company Jernforsen, has upgraded wood producer on sustainable energy: 100% heating with waste!

Sustainable Swedish wood manufacturer Vida AB now uses only waste from its production to heat both its sawmill and drying kiln in Nössemark, Sweden. The upgrade has been done in close cooperation with Jernforsen, part of Linka Group, which has provided advice, boiler and optimized the existing installation.

Energy plants of the future

On the border between Sweden and Norway lies the village of Nössemark. Wood manufacturer Vida is not only a major employer for the area, but now also a beacon of sustainability with the establishment of what Linka Group calls the energy plant of the future. The city’s sawmill has switched to heating its entire production – from the premises to the drying kiln – with the wood chips and bark left over from production. This is not an easy task because the material contains up to 60% moisture. But the work is already showing good effects.

“It is stable, simple and reliable. For us, the most important thing has been to keep the schedule and get the plant we need. That’s why we chose Jernforsen again and have received really good support when there have been challenges with the control system,” says Jonas Axelsson, Technical Manager at Vida.

The boiler for the new plant is 5 MW and optimized to handle the efficient burning of the moist biomass. The entire plant was developed and supplied by Jernforsen, part of the Danish Linka Group. In addition, the existing silo for bark and wood chips was renovated, modernized and connected to the new boiler. At the same time, a new boiler house was built for the new system, which Vida knows well from its other sawmills.

10th out of 12 plants with Danish ancestry

Linka Group has also made a sustainable footprint at the wood manufacturer in the past. In fact, Vida currently has boilers from Jernforsen in 10 of its 12 Swedish sawmills. They are designed to use waste from production to provide between 8 and 10 MW of heat. Jernforsen’s technology makes it easy for sawmills to get the energy out of wet bark and wood chips without significant dust or emissions.

“For sawmills, it is important to make the best possible use of their residual products. That is why we have put a lot of effort into optimizing and automating this type of plant, which runs stably even in the harsh environment on the border with Norway. Economically attractive energy plants with a focus on return on investment are not only popular in Denmark”, says Linka Group.

Linka Group is a world leader in the optimization and development of climate-friendly energy plants based on biomass and waste fuels. With the solution from Jernforsen, VIDA reduces its_{CO2 emissions} and at the same time ensures operational reliability through full operational support.