International cooperation in focus at Nordic Wood Biorefinery Conference

The conference was organized by RISE as the main organizer and is a collaboration with VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. A new feature of this year's conference was the matchmaking component conducted together with North Sweden Cleantech, where participants from both industry and academia had the chance to network and find potential partners.

“This is a golden opportunity for our regional companies to connect with stakeholders from all over the world,” says Helena Näsström, lead project manager for the event and International Business Developer at North Sweden Cleantech. She continues:

“Meeting regionally in Sweden is important, but here we got access to a global market - it was unique and very valuable.

Interest in the conference was high with over 150 registered participants and 117 booked matchmaking meetings. It was organized with specific tables where participants had pre-booked meetings with those who best matched their interests. Each meeting lasted 20 minutes, and when the time was up, a bell was rung to mark the switch to the next participant - creating a great buzz in the room and an intense networking environment.

The day before, many conference participants had attended the inauguration of RISE's new pilot hall for biorefinery demo environments.

“We have now shown the world that we can run successful projects using the test beds. Bioeconomy Arena, with its heart in Örnsköldsvik, is Sweden's entire test bed arena in this sector. The focus is on what we do best - forest biorefinery development in wood,” says Helena.

“Inspiring project”

Karin Hägglund, innovation engineer at local company Sekab, was one of the participants at the matchmaking event. She emphasizes how valuable it is to meet both researchers and other actors in the industry.

“It is very fun to meet actors and exchange ideas. Particularly exciting are the PhD projects, where you really get to see the drive of the next generation of researchers. It's inspiring to hear about the projects going on at the universities and to exchange experiences,” says Karin.

Sekab is working to develop its focus on green chemicals and to expand its product portfolio, and the matchmaking offered a perfect opportunity to listen to how others work.

“I've already had two meetings, both on techno-economic evaluation and biofuels. It has been incredibly interesting to hear about how other companies and researchers do their evaluations, what software they use and how they validate their data,” she says.

“Meeting other companies and researchers working towards the same goal - replacing fossil raw materials - was uplifting.

“It's meetings like this that give us energy and inspiration. It feels meaningful to know that we are all pushing in the same direction and working towards a sustainable future,” she concludes.

“Very valuable meetings”

Steven Govoni, Vice President and Innovation Fellow at Ecolab, traveled from Chicago to attend the conference. Ecolab is a global leader in sustainability, providing water, hygiene and infection prevention solutions and services that protect people and the resources that are critical to human life. The company serves over 40 markets, including the pulp and paper industry through its Nalco Water division.

"Our programs help pulp and paper customers use input resources more efficiently, optimize conversion to the final product, and improve end-product performance - for example, in terms of strength and softness," Steven explains.

He was impressed by how well organized the matchmaking event was and how effective it was in establishing new contacts.

"We already have collaborations with both institutes and producers, but here I had another chance to talk to people specifically in the biorefinery sector, people I probably would never have met otherwise. It was very valuable,” he says.

Steven has high expectations for the results of the 'speed dating' meetings that took place. Meeting face-to-face in this way proved to be successful for networking and collaboration.

"I am very pleased. These events are underestimated by those who do not attend. Meeting in person like this beats any Teams meeting,” says Steven with a smile.

When it comes to the potential of biorefineries using forest resources, Steven is convinced that a big change is coming.

"There is no doubt that this will happen, hopefully in my working lifetime. We've been talking about biorefineries in the industry for a long time, but it's only now, with the growing social awareness of environmental issues, that the movement has gained clear momentum. Consumers are demanding more environmentally friendly products, and this can best be achieved if we use carbon that is already on the ground,” he says.

“Opens up for new conversations”

Therese Nylander, project manager at SCA and Biorefinery Östrand, also attended the matchmaking event. Biorefinery Östrand is jointly owned by SCA and St1 and is planned to be the world's first large-scale biorefinery using forest industry by-products as raw material. During the conference, many different projects were presented, some with pure research results and others more developed.

- “Our project is perhaps the furthest along in the development process and our advice to other projects is to focus on building strong strategic partnerships, as we have done with SCA and St1. Having control over a large part of the value chain reduces risks and increases the possibility of reaching a final investment decision,” explains Therese Nylander.

Finding new contacts, getting inspiration and gathering ideas that can contribute to the project was high on Therese's agenda - that's why it was important to have a wide range of participants.

"We have met everyone from PhD students to companies working with the same raw material as us, who might become future partners. The great thing about matchmaking is that it opens up conversations you might not have planned from the start, which can lead to new, rewarding opportunities,” she explains.

"Matchmaking opens up for conversations that were not planned", says Therese Nylander, SCA.

SCA and St1's ambitious plans in Östrand have received a lot of attention and during the first day of the conference, Therese gave a speech entitled “Possibilities and challenges of scaling up”, where she highlighted both the opportunities and the challenges they face.

"It has been very rewarding here. We were keen to come here and share our insights and what is important for the project at this stage".

What kind of feedback have you received from the participants during the matchmaking?

"Many are curious about how the technology works and how we will succeed in creating a completely new sustainable value chain where a forestry company and an energy company meet. It's often about the technology, how the value chain will work and what we can use the products for. We are open about the challenges that exist in this type of project and what support may be needed,” says Therese.