The company made ethanol from sawdust in Kajaani and from food industry waste in Lahti and Vantaa. The Kajaani plant could not be made operational and the other plants are experiencing difficulties in obtaining raw material.
Energy company St1 will stop bioethanol production in Kajaani, Lahti and Vantaa. The company ended the change negotiations on Tuesday.
The company has not been able to get the Kajaani sawdust-fired demo plant to work properly. Production has been loss-making throughout and the company does not see the situation improving, says St1 in a press release. The company built the Kajaani plant in 2015 and production started in 2017.
The Lahti and Vantaa plants have made bioethanol from food industry waste and have been remotely controlled from the Kajaani plant. The plants’ main raw material supplier does not supply the plants with raw material and no substitute has been secured.
Production will end at all plants during 2023. 26 permanent employees will lose their jobs, and temporary employees’ employment contracts have also ended during the change negotiations.