Wood chips — new import product for Inkoo Shipping

 

In Finland bioenergy has a key role in the production of renewable energy. Bioenergy production is largely integrated into forestry and forest industry.

 

According to Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Finland in recent years, energy derived from wood fuels has accounted for around a quarter of Finland’s total energy consumption. The major share of wood fuels is derived from the by-products of the forestry industry, including black liquor derived from the pulp-making process and bark, sawdust and other industrial wood residues. Also logging residues or other low value biomass from silvicultural and harvesting operations are used for energy generation.

 

In 2018 the total consumption of wood fuels was 105TWh (terawatt hours). Wood fuels represented the most important energy source in Finland, covering 27% of the total energy consumption (Statistics Finland, 2018).

 

 

Solid wood fuels are an important source for heat and power generation in Finland. According to statistics, in 2018 heating and power plants consumed nearly 20 million solid cubic metres (38TWh) of solid wood fuels. Forest chips are also a remarkable source of energy in Finland. The branches, crowns and stumps of harvested trees cannot be used by industry to produce timber goods or pulp and paper, but they can be chipped to make wood-chip fuels that can then be used to generate energy. The use of forest chips has increased almost eightfold since 2000.

 

 

As the forms of energy sources are changing from mainly coal to renewable energy, Inkoo Shipping is also offering old and new customers services to handle these new energy sources. “We have now started co-operation with a customer that imports wood chips and we expect to have several companies who have shown interest to start importing bioenergy,” says Inkoo Shipping’s Traffic Manager Tomas Damén.

 

“Earlier we have already handled, for example, energy wood and wood pellets, which are also forms of bioenergy. This trend in heat and power generation moving from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources is well known and the changes are now starting to happen, and we welcome it,” continues Damén

 

 

Damén explains that Inkoo Shipping has, over a long time, been investing in such machines and equipment that allow it to handle these products effectively. “Our wheel loaders have such grabs which enable loading of high trucks on which these lighter products are transported. Also, cranes have bigger grabs and grabs that are fitted to handle stocks and logs. With our machine park, we can serve customers effectively immediately. The one thing that needs to be increased is the storage space but we own the areas around us so that is no problem,” Damén concludes.