Metso will deliver a steam boiler plant to Valio’s Lapinlahti production plants. The boiler plant will be delivered by the Metso-Wärtsilä joint venture MW Power. In addition to the boiler plant, the delivery includes all of the necessary installations, the commissioning and the Metso DNA automation system. The boiler plant will generate the steam and heat needed by Valio’s Lapinlahti milk processing plant. The plant will be fuelled by wood chips and peat. Wood chips can eventually be used at 100%, but in the initial stage they will account for 50–60% of the fuel mix. The objective is to increase this share gradually. The annual operation of the new plant will be around 8500 hours and its process steam output will total approximately 140GWh/a. The boiler is based on HYBEX bubbling fluidized bed combustion technology patented by Metso Power, enabling the use of a wide range of fuels. The boiler output is 20.0MWth and that of the auxiliary boiler included in the delivery 12.4MWth. In the boiler solution and automation, particular attention has been paid to the boiler plant’s load variations, as the production plant’s steam requirement varies greatly owing to the nature of the process. The plant will be completed in spring 2013.
