Energy Systems: Vyncke | 33


50-100MW of heat for an MDF or PB line and you need the material close to the plant. If you have to transport it from far away it becomes complicated.” Mr Mestdagh believes the panel industry will see a large RDF-fired energy system at some point in the future.


A major trend in recent years has been decarbonisation, something Vyncke believes is a long-term trend. The current high interest rates may be a dampener on investment decisions currently but there are still many projects – with France, Germany and Scandinavia being examples due to the availability of investment subsidies, so customers are able to receive subsidy help immediately rather than wait to receive financial help based on energy generation when the new plant is operational. “In the wood-based panels industry there


are companies going through difficulties in selling their products and maybe shutting down lines or reducing their capacities,” said Mr Mestdagh.


“If you’re reducing capacity, you do not need energy plants. But in the panel industry we didn’t do that bad in 2023, it was quite OK and we sold a number of plants. “In Europe we see more and more


brownfield investments by the industry and a need to replace old energy plants, even when there is not necessarily a new press line. Also in Europe, you see more often a shift from rotary to belt dryers, that means you need another energy plant, not one that generates hot gas but one that generates hot water.” This latter trend represents good business


opportunities for Vyncke. But the company does not expect 2024 to be a stellar year for wood-based panels sector investment, due to the economic headwinds.


PROJECTS Vyncke is currently executing about 60 energy plants in 35 different countries. In Germany, the company is commissioning a 34tph steam boiler for GUTEX at Eschbach. The energy is for an insulation board line. This is the second project for GUTEX (the first was for a line at Gutenburg). In France, Vyncke will commission an energy plant at Swiss Krono at Sully-sur-Loire in Q1. It will generate 18MW thermal oil and 65MW of hot water for an OSB and PB production line. The hot water is mainly for two new belt dryers from IMAL PAL Group. The customer is the EPC contractor Dalkia, which will operate the plant for Swiss Krono. “This sort of arrangement is quite common


in France, with many energy contractors and energy companies that come up with solutions for industries,” explained Mr Mestdagh. Vyncke also recently commissioned a new energy plant for Unilin in Ussel in a typical brownfield project where also the MDF dryer has been renewed. Another recent commissioning is a thermal


oil heater for De Sutter Freres, a company in Normandy that uses 100% flax waste as raw material to make PB. This heater uses flax dust for fuel. Looking worldwide, Vyncke is involved in projects in Australia, with two orders for Borg.


One is the energy plant for an MDF line previously belonging to Dongwha and the second is for a new 2,000m3


daily capacity


PB line. Moving on to Vietnam there are two projects – the first is an energy plant for Kim Tin for its new MDF line in Dau Giay. The other project is for Staboo, which will use bamboo as a material to produce OSB. The Vyncke plant will generate energy from bamboo waste. Mr Mestdagh explained that bamboo, like


all woody biomass that comes from fast- growing plants/trees, is more difficult to burn because there is more potassium. “This has its challenges. You have to make the necessary adjustment on the design of your energy plant. If you are not aware of the challenges of burning bamboo waste, you can end up with a problem.” Two projects in Vietnam (with Vyncke energy plants) were cancelled (Dongwha VRG and Kim Tin 2) due to the absence of building permits. In Brazil, the company is building an energy


system for Sudati, while in Turkey, Vyncke is currently commissioning two 100MW energy plants for Kastamonu Entegre (one


at Balikesir and a second at Kastamonu City). Both energy plants are generating 66MW thermal oil and 30MW hot water and they are driving a 14MWe ORC turbine. Vyncke says there are some wood insulation board projects in Europe coming, but this sector has been slowing down. One area seeing strong interest is carbon capture technologies. Vyncke is active in the agricultural sector – particularly the greenhouse plant growing sector, with growers of tomatoes and zucchini.


“This trend will happen soon,” said Mr


Mestdagh. “You will have a biomass-fired system to


heat the greenhouses, then capture the CO2 from the flue gases and use it back in the greenhouses to give it a boost for the plants to grow. Farmers are buying CO2 and there will be no need to buy CO2 future, but to use the CO2


these days in the


from the biomass


boiler.” Vyncke has already built two such plants in the Netherlands. One is with hot water and another is a CHP plant – making electricity, heat for the greenhouses and producing CO2 “You do not need to liquify the CO2


, so the


cost is lower. This is a quite a unique carbon capture method from energy plants. I do not know anyone else that has such experience with carbon capture from biomass energy plants. “What we have built is not a prototype, it is actually running on an industrial scale and running at full capacity,” said Mr Mestdagh. “It can be replicated.”


Another important trend for Vyncke is the emission requirements, which are becoming more and more stringent, therefore pushing the company to design and make plants that are more high performance with fewer emissions.


The shift among PB and OSB manufacturers to move from drum dryers to belt dryers is an example of the industry requiring fewer emissions – as belt dryers are viewed as more environmentally-friendly. This shift has seen requirements move from hot gas to hot water. The second advantage of specifying a


belt dryer is you can additionally generate electricity because you can build co- generation plants. These investments can be very substantial. In summary, Vyncke has grown its business


considerably in recent decades and the fact it can point to an average annual growth rate of 15-20% speaks for itself. The trajectory of worldwide demand for energy systems across the different industries is likely to only increase in the coming years. The interest and focus on energy systems from the wood sector at the Ligna exhibition in 2023 is surely evidence of that. ●


www.wbpionline.com | December 2023/January 2024 | WBPI


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