Displaying items by tag: Borregaard

Tuesday, 06 October 2020 21:36

NOK 15.9 million to Borregaard

Borregaard has received a commitment of NOK 15.9 million in funding from the Research Council of Norway (NFR) for an innovation project that will maximise the value of raw materials and reduce waste streams in industrial processes.

borregaardIn Project XyloBond, Borregaard will develop green binding additives that will ensure better utilisation of raw material and waste streams in a wide variety of industries, including metallurgy, batteries and animal feed production. XyloBond will deliver new sustainable technology to maximise the value of raw materials and increase performance and efficiency in advanced industrial processes.

- The new binding additives developed in XyloBond will be based on biopolymers from Norwegian wood and represent a sustainable alternative to oil-based products used in industry today. The funding represents a major risk relief for Borregaard and contributes to more sustainable innovation and development in different industries, says CEO Per A. Sørlie.

Borregaard has one of the world's most advanced biorefineries. Using natural, sustainable raw materials, Borregaard produces advanced and environmentally friendly biochemicals and biomaterials that can replace oil-based products. Borregaard has 1100 employees in 16 countries and is a global market leader in lignin-based products.

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borregaardBorregaard and Rayonier Advanced Materials (RYAM) have entered into a non-binding letter of intent regarding the establishment of a new lignin operation adjacent to RYAM’s Fernandina Beach pulp mill in Florida. The new company will be owned 55% by Borregaard and 45% by RYAM.

The Fernandina Beach mill manufactures specialty cellulose and lignin raw material as co-products from softwood. Utilising Borregaard’s know-how and technical expertise, the new company will initially manufacture lignin products suitable for concrete admixture and similar applications targeting primarily the North and South American markets.The products will be marketed through Borregaard’s international sales network and will represent a 30% increase in the lignin sales volume at full capacity.

It is anticipated that the project will be completed in two phases over 5 years. The parties estimate an aggregate USD 110 million for a capacity of 150,000 metric tonnes dry substance per year. The first phase is expected to commence commercial operations in 2017.

The new operation will benefit from the development work in the BALI project, and takes priority over a first BALI plant. Longer term, the BALI technology remains a strategic lignin raw material option for Borregaard.

Completion of the new operation is subject to board approval by both companies and conclusion of definitive agreements, as well as final engineering, refinement of capital estimates, and obtaining required permits and other approvals.

“The Fernandina Beach project represents an excellent growth opportunity for our lignin business in a global market which for some time has been supply constrained”, says Per A. Sørlie, President and CEO of Borregaard.

“Pursuing this opportunity with the leader in lignin-based chemistry significantly enhances the prospects for success while reducing operational and market-based risk,” says RYAM CEO Paul Boynton.

Borregaard operates the world's most advanced biorefinery. By using natural, sustainable raw materials, Borregaard produces advanced and environmentally friendly biochemicals, biomaterials and bioethanol that replace oil-based products. The Borregaard Group has 1080 employees in 16 countries and a turnover in 2014 of approx. NOK 4 billion (USD 500 million) to close to 100 countries worldwide. The lignin business constitutes close to 50% of the Group’s turnover with plants in 7 countries.

Rayonier Advanced Materials (RYAM) is the leading global supplier of high-purity, cellulose specialties natural polymers for the chemical industry.  The Company has more than 1200 full time employees and reported USD $958 million in revenue in 2014.  Rayonier Advanced Materials is consistently ranked among the United States' top 50 exporters and delivers products to 79 ports around the world, serving customers in 20 countries across five continents.

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Borregaard has developed new technology for the production of green chemicals and sugars based on biomass from wood and agricultural and forestry waste. On Tuesday 16 April the Norwegian Finance Minister Sigbjørn Johnsen will officially inaugurate the biorefinery demonstration plant at Borregaard’s production facility in Sarpsborg.

The demonstration plant, called Biorefinery Demo, started preliminary operations in summer 2012, followed by normal operations in the 1st quarter of 2013. The plant relies on Borregaard’s proprietary BALI technology and is a continuation of today’s biorefinery concept. The aim is cost-effective and sustainable production of lignin and bioethanol from new raw materials. BALI technology involves converting the cellulose fibres in biomass to sugars that can be used for the production of second generation bioethanol, while other components of the biomass (lignin) become advanced biochemicals. These products can replace petroleum-based alternatives, and the raw material cannot be used in food production.  

BALI technology consists of several processing steps and has given promising results in laboratory-scale testing. In the demonstration plant the process will be upscaled by a factor of 1000 times in order to test and develop the technology moving towards full-scale production. The plant has so far processed over 100 tons of biomass.  
"If we succeed with this project, we will be able to establish full-scale production of biochemicals with excellent climate accountability. Biorefinery Demo is a good example of how new technology can contribute to environmental solutions and also be commercially viable," says Borregaard CEO Per A. Sørlie.  

Construction of the demonstration plant has cost just under NOK 140 million, 58 million of which is investment funding from Innovation Norway's Environmental Technology Support Scheme. The BALI innovation project has also received NOK 19 million in funding from the Research Council of Norway and NOK 35 million from the EU's Seventh Framework Programme for Research and Development.  

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Tuesday, 04 December 2012 09:43

NOK 30 million in research funds to Borregaard

borregaardBorregaard has received a grant of NOK 30 million from the Research Council of Norway's earmarked funds for research on wood processing. The funds will be used over three years on innovation projects based on timber.

“The grant from the Research Council is recognition of the research and development work Borregaard has done so far, and a positive signal for continued focus on innovation in the wood processing area in Norway,” says CEO Per A. Sørlie.

Funding comes from the User-Led Innovation Arena (BIA), which is the Research Council's program for innovation in trade and industry. Borregaard submitted three applications for funding for innovation projects within the areas of lignin products for use in concrete, microfibrillar cellulose and new specialty cellulose products.

“Borregaard outlined good projects in their applications. They display a high degree of innovation and great potential for growth. Through this support, we can help to create new and innovative products and manufacturing processes, and create greater value in the wood processing industry,” says Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Executive Director, Division of Innovation with the Research Council. 

Borregaard annually spends more than NOK 120 million on research and development and has its own research centre with 70 employees in various chemical disciplines in Sarpsborg. Around 15 per cent of the company's turnover comes from new products that did not exist five years ago. 

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Tuesday, 07 December 2010 11:50

Borregaard Opens High-Tech Control Centre

Minister of Trade and Industry, Trond Giske, has opened Borregaard’s new control centre, which will ensure innovative, knowledge based and eco-friendly industry in the years to come.
        
“This modern control centre demonstrates the focus on Norwegian process industry. The government is a team player with industries that focus on innovative, knowledge based and forward looking solutions. This new control centre is something Borregaard and the company’s employees have every reason to be proud of,” says Minister of Trade and Industry, Trond Giske.

Borregaard has invested more than NOK 80 million in the centre, which combines the control of 15 of the plants in the factory area into one joint control centre. New technology and a new organisation make the control centre the most technically advanced of its type in Norway.
 
“Borregaard’s plant in Sarpsborg is the world’s most advanced biorefinery. With a 3 kilometre long factory area, in which 22 factories are integrated, Borregaard is a complex activity. The operations centre will ensure increased productivity and safeguard control by means of process stability and optimising the production processes,” says Per A. Sørlie, President and CEO of Borregaard.

Borregaard’s new operations centre is the result of a major change process, the aim of which is to increase competitiveness and the focus on health, safety and the environment and, not least, interesting jobs. The project has set out to incorporate a dynamic performance culture by using increased competence and new technology to the maximum. The success criteria have been employee involvement, competence building and a new organisation.

“With the new operations centre, we can offer high-tech and interesting jobs using advanced control systems that will increase the attractiveness of jobs in this industry in the years to come,” says Sørlie.

Borregaard is the world’s most advanced biorefinery. By using natural, sustainable raw materials, Borregaard produces advanced and eco-friendly biochemicals, biomaterials and bioethanol that replace oil-based products. Borregaard has been the biggest employer in Sarpsborg ever since it began in 1889, and still is, with almost 800 employees. The company is part of the Orkla group and has altogether 1,300 employees in factories and sales offices in 20 countries in Europe, the USA, Asia and Africa. The head office and the company’s largest plants are in Sarpsborg.

For more information, contact:
Communications Manager Tone Horvei Bredal, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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Monday, 26 July 2010 13:13

Research means from EU

borregaardBorregaard has received 4 million Euros in research grants from the EU. The funding will be used for demonstration plants within development projects connected to Borregaard’s biorefinery concept.

“Borregaard has shown ability and willingness for research and development. Now we have been are rewarded for it,” says technology director Gudbrand Rødsrud.

The EU’s seventh framework programme for research and development is offering altogether 57 million EUR through the Joint Biorefinery Call during the period 2010-2014. More than 50 projects applied at the beginning, but only three have received support. Borregaard is represented in two of these.

The intention of the EU funding is to stimulate European industry to be more competitive in the international markets. The Joint Biorefinery Call is particularly aimed at the development of renewable fuels and chemicals to reduce greenhouse gases and make us more independent of oil and gas in the future.
From biomass to products

One of the projects has been named EuroBioRef and is coordinated from Lille University in France. The project has 28 partners who are jointly developing new methods of making chemicals from biomass. In this project Borregaard alone has received funding of 2.9 million euro.

“Our role in EuroBioRef is to develop technology which degrades the biomass to sugars in solution,” says Gudbrand Rødsrud.

The other project Borregaard has received funding for, Suprabio, is also about complete biorefinery processes from biomass to a range of products. Here Borregaard is contributing with microfibrillar cellulose. The project has 16 partners and Borregaard alone is receiving 1.1 million euro in EU support.
Unique funding

What is unique about this funding is that it is focused on building demonstration and pilot plants for optimising processes.
“This funding enables us to carry out research and build demonstration plants that would not otherwise have been possible,” explains Rødsrud.

For more information, please contact:
Tone Horvei Bredal, phone: 0047 92467711,
e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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