Fimpec to carry out imple­mentation engineering for Stora Enso’s billion-euro investment to convert a paper machine into a consumer board production line in Oulu

In October, Stora Enso announced a decision to invest approximately EUR 1 billion to convert the idle paper machine at the Group’s Oulu site into a high-capacity consumer board production line. Stora Enso and Fimpec have now agreed on the implementation engineering concerning the project. The commission includes process and plant engineering, pipeline engineering, process electrical engineering, building electrical engineering, and instrumentation and HVAC engineering.

“For us, this is a major transaction, one of the biggest ever. It will provide work especially for our Kouvola location’s personnel over the next year and a half,” says Harri Soininen, Fimpec’s Director of Engineering Services.

Fimpec is well positioned to carry out the commission. Fimpec carried out pre-engineering prior to the investment decision, which means that the company is familiar with the project and the environment. Furthermore, Fimpec has a long history of co-operation with both Stora Enso and the Oulu site.

“We were in charge of implementation engineering and construction services when Oulu Mill’s other paper machine (PM7) was converted into a kraftliner production line in an investment completed in 2021. We also have previous experience with the mill and its machines, since in the early 1990s, we were involved in the engineering project of the paper machine now being converted and, at the end of the 1990s, also for another paper machine that was converted earlier,” Soininen explains.

750,000 tonnes of consumer board per year

The ongoing investment supports Stora Enso’s growth strategy in renewable packaging by providing new volume for growing packaging segments. The line will be used for producing folding boxboard (FBB) and coated unbleached kraft (CUK). The total annual capacity will be 750,000 tonnes. The boards’ end-use segments are food and beverage packaging, especially frozen and chilled, and dry and fast food.

The investment will create approximately 300 new jobs at the Oulu site, including support functions, as well as an additional 1,500 indirect employment opportunities. The new line will consume approximately one million cubic metres of pulp wood per year. Production on the converted machine is estimated to start in early 2025.

(Photo: Stora Enso)

More information on Fimpec’s participation in the project and our services

Harri Soininen, Director, Engineering Services, Fimpec
Tel. +358 40 552 5814, harri.soininen@fimpec.com

Information on the project on Stora Enso’s website

» Stora Enso invests in conversion to accelerate growth in renewable packaging

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Part of the global bioeconomy, Stora Enso is a leading provider of renewable products in packaging, biomaterials, wooden construction and paper, and one of the largest private forest owners in the world We believe that everything that is made from fossil-based materials today can be made from a tree tomorrow. Stora Enso has approximately 22,000 employees and our sales in 2021 were EUR 10.2 billion.

Fimpec is a leading specialist in project management and engineering. We act as project consultants in major investment projects in the industrial and energy sectors, and as experts in the real estate and infrastructure sectors. Our turnover in 2021 was €30.3 million, and we employ more than 350 top experts in Finland and abroad.

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