30 | Focus on Energy Systems: Vyncke
POWERING UP The Middle East conflict is generating considerable uncertainty in global energy markets.
Increased oil and gas prices mean wood-based panels manufacturers are seeing costs increase in several elements like transport and resins, but how are they managing their core energy needs? Stephen Powney interviewed Vyncke sales director Kevin Vandewalle
W
ith so many wood-based panels markets suffering from lower demand
and confidence levels, probably the last thing manufacturers wanted to see is a conflict in the Middle East. With tentative hopes of market recovery at the start of 2026, the introduction of another dynamic twist in the shape of the Iran war has certainly hindered that. Consumers don’t like uncertainty and that translates into reduced spending. Increased focus on cashflow and efficiency, plus caution in capital expenditures therefore continues to be a feature in the panels industry landscape throughout many countries. Global energy systems supplier Vyncke, established in 1912, has a host of wood industry energy installations in its order reference book. Vyncke installations provide energy from hot water heaters, steam boilers, thermal oil heaters, multimedia plants (hot gas, thermal oil, steam, power generation in one system) and combined heat and power plants (CHP). Vyncke sales director Kevin Vandewalle explained to WBPI what Vyncke was seeing currently in markets. “Companies in the industry got a shock in the Ukraine war and everyone then was on top of energy security and decarbonisation,” he said. “We saw a lot of movement on projects
at that time. When the energy prices went down again in 2023-2025 the sense of urgency reduced among customers.” Of course, most WBP manufacturers already rely on wood as their main fuel source. “The main complaint we are hearing at this moment is that businesses, already in a downturn these last 2-3 years, are seeing margins and cashflow under pressure, so capital expenditure is impacted. “They are confronted with a very complex
environment to navigate. In Poland for instance, which has the highest electricity prices in Europe, there are a lot of companies looking at CHP plants, but subsidies are not moving fast and building permits are taking a long time. “If you want to burn wood which is not virgin wood, then they are confronted with the Waste Incineration Directive on emissions, which makes it more expensive. “So, overall we are talking more to WBP producers now than the last one or two years, but the whole context of higher energy prices, margins under pressure and extra capacity built post-Covid, mean their possibilities to do capital expenditure investments are difficult.
“Decisions are not really being taken, unless there are strong subsidies awarded so they can proceed with such a project at less risk.” The woody biomass market is currently more stable than gas or oil, being less impacted
by the Middle East and global context. This relative predictability is an advantage. “In WBP factories and sawmills, CHP, hot
water boilers, and multimedia energy plants for OSB and MDF are using woody biomass as fuel,” Mr Vandewalle added. “But at the same time companies are
competing for the natural wood. If you look at France for instance, there have been so many subsidies going to industrial energy users to switch to woody biomass that even the subsidy authorities are saying in certain regions that they cannot approve any subsidies or projects because the woody biomass supply is simply not there.”
PROJECTS
The most recent WBP industry project for Vyncke was Tableros Hispanos in Spain. The contract included the design, delivery, supervision of erection and commissioning of a 24.9 MWth energy plant in Galicia. The Vyncke contract was part of a larger €19.4m decarbonisation project. This was a revamp of an existing plant to gain extra efficiency. The panel producer had an existing Vyncke multimedia energy plant with hot gases and thermal oil, while also using natural gas for electricity co- generation. In Spain, co-gen subsidies, feed-in tariffs and benefits are fading out. Tableros Hispanos wanted to change the concept, so instead of generating hot gases for the drum dryer and thermal oil for the presses, they asked for a revamp - remove the hot gases and add extra thermal oil capacity. An ORC (Organic Ranking Cycle) unit supplied by Turboden replaced the electricity coming from co-gen, and the ORC’s generation of hot water due to the condensing of the thermal oil was used for the belt driers.
“This means you go from a very Vyncke installation at Swiss Krono in Sully-sur-Loire WBPI | Summer 2026 |
www.wbpionline.com
conventional system of hot gases and thermal oil into a combined heat and power plant where you can utilise the low value heat of the back end of the ORC turbine.” Another interesting factor of this project was the financing. Credendo, the Belgian export credit agency, were able to back the financing. “We backed the loan of the client’s home bank which means we could contribute to a
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53
