Energy Minister Willingmann visits Mercer Stendal mill in Arneburg

Nowhere in Germany are renewable energies used in industrial production as much as in the Stendal district. According to the Federal Statistical Office, their share of 13 petajoules was 72 percent. The biomass power plant of Mercer Stendal in Arneburg plays a decisive role in this. This not only supplies the pulp mill with sustainable energy but also supplies businesses and households in the region. Today, Monday, Energy Minister Dr. Armin Willingmann visited Mercer Stendal to discuss environmental, energy and industrial policy with the mill’s Managing Director, André Listemann, and Sr. Vice President, Innovation & Government Relations of Mercer International, Wolfram Ridder.

“In Arneburg, Mercer is setting an example of how sustainable and climate-neutral energy supply can also be organized for energy-intensive industry,” Willingmann explained. “In view of the energy crisis and advancing climate change, it will also be important for industry in other parts of the country to make the entire value chain sustainable in the coming years. Alongside green energy, a sustainable supply of raw materials in particular will become a crucial competitive factor.”

“With our decades of acquired expertise in the efficient use of wood as a renewable raw material, we can make a major contribution to the decarbonization of other industrial sectors. We are on the threshold of the transition from a pulp mill to a biorefinery, accompanied by great potentials for the production of new climate-neutral products at the site” explained Managing Director André Listemann.

The first stone for the pulp mill’s construction was laid in 2002; with construction costs of around one billion euros, the mill was one of the largest investments in Germany after the country’s reunification. After several expansions, Mercer Stendal now employs around 600 people in Arneburg. Mercer generates up to 1 billion kilowatt hours of renewable energy annually on two steam turbines using cogeneration. This is equivalent to the average annual electricity consumption of about 250,000 four-person households.

Willingmann concluded his visit by touring the pulp mill’s central control room to gain insight into the complex production processes.