The Finnish stainless steel producer Outokumpu is investing in a biocarbon plant in Sassnitz on the German island of Rügen. Costing around €40m, the plant is to turn waste wood into 15,000 tonnes of biocarbon per year, Outokumpu announced in early December. The facility is scheduled to start operating in the first quarter of 2026.
The new facility will leverage existing infrastructure and buildings at the Mukran Port. It is to deliver the biocarbon as feedstock for biocoke to Outokumpu’s pelletising plant in Tornio, Finland, which is on schedule and expected to be completed by mid-2025.
In the first process stage, biomass is converted into biocarbon using pyrolysis before being pelletised into biocoke in the second stage. Biocarbon can be used as a substitute for fossil coal or energy sources in different stages of stainless steel production, according to Outokumpu. The company plans to use the biocoke as a reductant in the production of ferrochrome, an alloy needed to make steel stainless.
Outokumpu described Mukran Port, located on the Baltic Sea island of Rügen, as an ideal site for its project thanks to its excellent logistical ties to Finland and Central Europe. "Side stream gases" produced in the pyrolysis process are to be used to generate heat and electricity "which offers a financially attractive business case and higher value use for the biomass", according to the company.
Potential to reduce direct CO2 emissions by half
Outokumpu underlined that it was constantly looking for ways to reduce CO2 emissions throughout its value chain. "Efforts to replace fossil raw materials with economically viable alternatives is a key element in this journey." The company said that replacing fossil coke with biocoke could reduce roughly half of its direct CO2 emissions. Investments towards reducing these emissions were essential for Outokumpu to cut costs as free carbon allowances in the European Emissions Trading System (ETS) would be potentially phased out in the future.
"We are proud that our stainless steel has the lowest carbon footprint in the industry, and we are progressing steadily towards our target to reduce our emission intensity across our direct, indirect and supply chain emissions by 42 per cent by 2030 from a 2016 base year. Currently, biocoke represents the best available technology to decrease our direct emissions and we are investigating also other innovations as well as the use of carbon capture technology to achieve further reductions,” commented Stefan Erdmann, Outokumpu’s Chief Technology Officer.
