19 June 2024: Sappi announced that it is investing in the installation of a second e-boiler at its Maastricht paper mill in the Netherlands.

According to Sappi, preparations at the mill are already underway for the new e-boiler, with delivery and commissioning planned for the end of 2025.

In 2021, Sappi invested in the modernization of its steam generation boiler at the Maastricht mill to reduce CO2 emissions. Part of the mill's gas-generated steam was replaced by electric steam via the new e-boiler. The electricity used is generated mainly from renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power, and the innovative technology has proven to be very successful.

"We are delighted that we initiated the investment in a second e-boiler after the successful implementation of the first e-boiler in 2021," said Ferdinand Koster, Mill Director at Sappi Maastricht Mill. "We expect the two new e-boilers to reduce CO2 emissions — in line with Scope 1 and 2 — by 14% by 2026 and as much as 30% by 2030."

Sappi noted that when the second 20 megawatt e-boiler starts up in November 2025, it will further boost the mill's unique ability to switch between natural gas and renewable energy sources - to generate the heat the mill needs to create steam for its paper machines.

"This ability to flex and switch is important because renewable energy in the Netherlands largely relies on unpredictable wind and solar. Not only does flexing ensure that the mill maintains power at times of low renewable energy availability, but it also means that, at other times, the mill can contribute to stabilizing the wider electricity grid for other users," the company said.

Bram Goorts, Manager Power Plant & Waste Water Treatment at Maastricht Mill added, "When the national grid operator has a good supply of power, we can turn down our gas turbine and turn up our e-boilers. But when the grid operator has a shortage of power, we can help by turning up our gas turbine and turning down the e-boilers. This can all be achieved thanks to the innovative e-boiler and CHP integration into the automated Frequency Restoration Reserve system. Either way, the full activation time is only five minutes."

Maastricht Mill produces coated woodfree paper and paperboard varying in grammage from 200 to 400 g/m2. The mill's production capacity is 260,000 tons per year.

Headquartered in Brussels (Belgium), Sappi Europe is the leading European producer of coated graphic papers as well as packaging and speciality papers with eight mills, 12 sales offices and 4,630 employees.

Sappi is a leading global provider of sustainable woodfibre products and solutions in the fields of dissolving pulp, printing papers, packaging and speciality papers, casting and release papers, biomaterials and bio-energy.