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The company Klaipėdos mediena, part of the international investment group VMG, has embarked on a green energy project, with its main component being the first Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) system in Lithuania, operating on thermal oil. The total investment in this project amounts to €4.4 million, and it will allow the company to generate around 7,000 megawatt-hours of electricity annually.
The energy generated by this system will be used for the company’s needs, aiming to reduce dependence on the general electricity grid and decrease CO2 emissions.
“The new ORC technology will allow us to use our existing infrastructure more efficiently and reduce energy costs. At the same time, this innovation brings positive effects for both the environment and the city. The latter will be able to receive waste heat energy into its infrastructure, thereby optimizing energy production and supply costs,” says Ingrida Grikpėdienė, CEO of VMG Wood Invest.
The total investment in the project is €4.4 million, with €2.8 million allocated for the ORC equipment and €1.6 million for construction.
Heat Will Also Supply the City of Klaipėda
“By January 2025, after the final adjustments to the equipment, electricity generation for the company’s needs will begin. Along with the operating 3.23 MW solar power plant at Klaipėdos mediena, the new technology will cover about 50% of the company’s electricity needs,” says Andrius Smaguris, Deputy Director of VMG Energy, responsible for implementing the project.
VMG group’s company VMG Energy, in cooperation with the design company TEC Industry, has designed a system that will prevent the waste thermal energy produced during the ORC unit’s operation from being released into the environment. Instead, it will be transferred to the Klaipėdos mediena heating network, from where it could be delivered to Klaipėda’s city heating network, contributing to lower heating costs in the port city.
“The decision to install the ORC unit was made based on the existing infrastructure. We aimed to enable Klaipėdos mediena’s biomass boiler plant to contribute to the production of green energy. By utilizing the existing infrastructure, we can not only increase the company’s efficiency but also contribute to the energy supply and economic welfare of the city of Klaipėda,” adds Grikpėdienė.
State Support for Project Implementation
The ORC unit installation project at Klaipėdos mediena (project number NR. BL-AM-IKM01-0020) received support from the Environmental Projects Management Agency (APVA) of Lithuania. A financial support of €825,269.83 was allocated through the ongoing measure “Investments of legal entities into replacing or reducing fossil fuel use and/or using renewable energy resources.”
The VMG group develops its activities in five strategic areas: wood processing and the production of sustainable wood products, renewable energy, industrial innovations and technologies, the production of engineered wood structures, and infrastructure and industrial real estate management.
The group employs about 3,000 people in its companies in Lithuania and Poland. Ninety percent of the company’s products are exported to more than 50 countries around the world.