Estonian company Fibenol is investing €700 million in a biorefinery in Latvia. As recently as 2022, the company’s main shareholder Raul Kirjanen, had not ruled out the possibility of building the plant in Estonia.
According to a Fibenol press release, on March 15, a memorandum of understanding was signed between Estonian company Fibenol OÜ and the ministries of economy, finance, agriculture, climate and energy, as well as the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia (LIAA) for the implementation of a €600-700 million investment project.
“Coming from Estonia, we recognize that countries rich in wood resources aren’t fully utilizing their potential, inspiring us to find solutions,” explained Fibenol’s majority shareholder Raul Kirjanen.
“With the completion of our demo plant commissioning, setting up the first commercial-scale biorefinery is our next goal. We want to make the most of local woody biomass and leverage Latvia’s inherent bioeconomy advantage. Latvia has demonstrated significant interest in enhancing the bioeconomy and promoting innovation growth through its supportive business environment for green technology solutions. Fibenol represents more than just one large industrial plant project; we see that in the future, the whole Baltics have the potential to lead the way for fossil-free industry models,” Kirjanen added.
According to a press release, Fibenol is considering establishing its commercial-scale biorefinery in Latvia based on their patented and market-ready technology, the Sunburst pretreatment technology. Sunburst is a key-enabling technology that facilitates wood fractionation process, enabling the conversion of up to 90 percent of the feedstock into functional biomaterials that can replace fossil chemicals in the chemical and materials industries.
Read more: ERR.EE