Ukrainian wood producer uses biomass instead of natural gas

Uniplyt LLC is a recognised leader of woodworking industry in Ukraine. With 850 employees it produces fibreboard, plywood and sawn timber, exporting 40 per cent to EU and CIS countries. One of the company’s fundamental principles is preservation of environment and environmentally friendly production.
To decrease energy costs and survive, the company planned to replace the natural gas consuming equipment used for wood drying with a biomass consuming technology. The company can use own wastes for this purpose – wood chips, sufficiently available on site.

The company addressed UKEEP for financing of this project.

The UKEEP team performed the analysis of the proposed technology, its potential for energy savings, profitability and financial-technical parameters.

The $1.5 million investment allowed the company to reduce its natural gas consumption by 2.2 million cubic meters per year or 75 per cent, decreasing company’s sensitivity to supply disruptions and gas price extremes. In addition, the company will save costs on waste transportation and disposal, leading to additional positive environmental impact besides the reduction of 4,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year. The cost savings amount to $700,000 per year, meaning the investment will be repaid from energy savings in just over 2 years.

“Without this project the company would have to close down,” – says Mykola Grechanyuk, company’s Technical Director. – “Now we have a chance to operate, develop, create new jobs and products”.

This way, the EBRD and UKEEP support the sustainable implementation of renewable energy projects by the private sector. Together, the private, residential and public sectors can make a change in the energy consumption patterns and the environmental protection.