32 | Energy Systems: Vyncke
It also now has offices in Belgium, Brazil, China, the Czech Republic, Germany, Ivory Coast, Malaysia, Singapore, Spain and Thailand. The company is still family owned (by the fourth generation), with brothers Peter and Dieter Vyncke sitting on the board, as well as running a holding company. They stepped away from operational management of the energy business two years ago to focus on the operations of the holding company and building the Vyncke brand worldwide. Peter Vyncke moved to Singapore to
continue with this entrepreneurship in Asia. Shareholdings or joint ventures in the holding company include PetroBio AB in Sweden, which specialises in wood powder burners; Callens Vyncke in Flanders – an EPC contractor for full-scope gas-powered co- generation systems for industrial customers that require both heat and power; Italy- based conveyor systems producer Trasmec (a supplier of systems to the wood-based panels industries); Forbes Vyncke Pvt Ltd in India; and Save Energy, a supplier of flue gas condensers and carbon capturing technology for bioenergy plants. Previous COO Stefaan Lauwers, a former
director at panel producer Unilin, stepped up to the position of CEO and is now leading the energy business, which now comprises more than 400 staff, or ‘Vynckeneers’ as they’re known.
DEVELOPMENT TRENDS For the purposes of this update the focus is firmly on Vyncke Clean Energy Technology which builds biomass and waste to energy solutions, with the wood-based panels
industries of course being a prominent customer. Vyncke chief sales and marketing officer Jeff Mestdagh emphasised to WBPI that the key focus with the company’s energy systems was solid fuels.
Firstly, there is the wood industry, which represents one of the company’s oldest customer sectors – extending from sawmills to wood-based panel manufacturers and pellet producers worldwide. Secondly, there is the agro and food business – where Vyncke encounters a vast range of side streams from production, such as sunflower hulls, spent coffee grounds, palm kernel shells, rice husks and malt dust. The third strand of business originated
when Europe made a move towards renewable energy, shifting from fossil fuels to biomass fuels – they do not have their own fuel or waste to burn. “You always compete with fossil fuels,” explained Mr Mestdagh.
“If oil and gas prices are high you compete and there is business but if it is low then there is not so much business. But there is still a subsidiary scheme in Europe for investments in biomass energy schemes.” Fourthly, some years ago Vyncke entered the waste to energy business, developing technology for dealing with other waste materials, such as refuse derived fuel (RDF). The first application was a power plant in the UK, near Birmingham, running purely on RDF to produce electricity, followed by a project in Sweden, providing heat to the town of Säffle. “We see a trend that industries are looking into this fuel,” added Mr Mestdagh.
Vyncke currently has a project at a sawmill
in France, where the client will use RDF to make energy for its production process, in this case a co-generation plant that will generate 5MW of electricity combined with another 15MW heat. “Biomass will always find another purpose, as biomass waste to make energy should always be the last resort,” said Mr Mestdagh. Many panel producers are using wood
waste as feedstock to make new panel products. “We strongly believe in giving priority to reusing the material rather than burning it,” said Mr Mestdagh. “On the other hand, there is a lot of waste, so we want to solve the waste problem. Our way to do that is making energy out of it.” Vyncke has seen how some industries, which need considerable amounts of energy for their production processes, are starting to look into using RDF on top of their own waste from production. “I thought it would mainly be power plants or district heating plants using RDF, but we see the industry is now looking into this,” said Mr Mestdagh. The France-based wood industry company putting in Vyncke’s first wood sector RDF- fired co-generation plant is Piveteaubois. Vyncke already has RDF applications in other industries. “We hear wood-based panel producers talking about burning RDF to create energy, but the permitting process is complicated – with RDF you are entering the waste to energy market where there are more stringent conditions. “For panel applications, you need
Above left: The Unilin (Panneaux de Corrèze) site at Ussel has been a focus of energy investments involving Vyncke Above right: Vyncke installation at Swiss Krono’s Sully-sur-Loire plant
WBPI | December 2023/January 2024 |
www.wbpionline.com
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