A well-executed project with AFRY enabled SunPine to meet renewable fuel market demands
A well-executed project with AFRY enabled SunPine to meet renewable fuel market demands
AFRY has contributed SunPine’s development during the years and in this production expansion project AFRY had the role as an EPCM partner. The project went very well and according to schedule, which Ulrika Hagman, Project Manager at SunPine, felt greatly relieved about.
“It has really worked incredibly well to keep our facility running, and we are very proud of what we have achieved together with everyone involved. This project has been so well-executed, with good project team provided by AFRY as our EPCM partner, who have supported us in a very valuable way”, says Ulrika Hagman.
The construction of the new plant was started in autumn 2018. The conditions of the project execution in the on-going production environment were completely different from the circumstances of the first processing line, which was commissioned in 2008, where AFRY also were involved from the very beginning. SunPine’s new production line is more streamlined to produce tall diesel and will have a more rigorous design compared to their first production line. One of the biggest challenges in this project was the integration with the existing production line in order to create a flexible and maintenance-friendly facility that operates as one total unit.
"This project has been so well-executed, with good project team provided by AFRY as our EPCM partner, who have supported us in a very valuable way"
“In complex projects like this, it is impossible to do everything yourself. The right skills are required to create security. We found great value in our collaboration with AFRY, and our discourse with them has centered on our common goal working together to come up with the best solutions”, says Hagman.
Focus on safety
Another cause of pride in the project are the statistics of accidents on site; no major accidents occurred during the entire expansion project.
“We are of course very proud for these figures. The structure we had for the meetings and safety rounds on a daily basis has been handled in an exemplary manner with professional reviews by the site manager. We also had a friendly atmosphere and a work environment that was very much appreciated by the staff on site”, says Hagman.
A facility of the future
SunPine’s biorefinery expansion is now ready — an energy-efficient facility well-adapted for the future, integrating sustainable production lines with circular economy solutions.
“With this, we are not only increasing the volume of our deliveries to our main owner, Preem, but also taking care of residual products from the industry sector and turning them into several products. However, there are also other positive effects of SunPine’s operations. Our energy surplus returns to district heating and goes to one of the companies near our facility. We have also created even more jobs and contributed to put Piteå on the world map”, Hagman concludes.
“In complex projects like this, it is impossible to do everything yourself. The right skills are required to create security. We found great value in our collaboration with AFRY, and our discourse with them has centered on our common goal working together to come up with the best solutions”
SunPine has a world-leading Biorefinery producing several bio-based products, crude tall-diesel, rosin, turpentine and tall oil pitch. Crude tall oil, a by-product from Kraft pulp production, is used a raw material for the process. The produced crude tall-diesel at the Sun- Pine plant is further upgraded by Preem, producing Preem Evolution diesel. After the expansion, the SunPine plant produces 5% of the Swedish diesel consumption. SunPine also produce sustainable rosin, which could be used as a raw material for a variety of products, e.g. ink and paint.
Key figures of project
- Investment value Approx 400 MSEK
- Capacity 150,000 kbm tall diesel annually.
- Production is equivalent with 5% of Sweden's diesel consumption
- Time 2017-2021
AFRY in the project
- Pre-feasibility study with design criterias and solutions
- EPCM implementation
- EPCM Project Management and administration including scheduling
- Engineering for all technical disciplines including DCS programming
- Procurement
- Construction Management and erection supervision
- Testing and installation
