AFRY as an engineering partner in Sekab’s production scale-up project development in Sweden


Sekab has awarded AFRY engineering and project partner assignment for the planned full-scale production facility in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden. The production facility will produce green chemicals from the forestry industry residues. This is a continuation for earlier concept and feasibility study phases.

To succeed in the transformation towards a sustainable and fossil-free society, there is a growing demand for sustainable bio-based materials and new technologies are also required. Sekab is planning to upgrade and commercialize technology solutions geared towards the production of sustainable biofuels and green chemical products. Sekab’s  CelluAPP® is developed to process biomasses into new bio-based raw materials such as sugar, ethanol and lignin which in turn can be used for several end products such as biofuels, asphalt and pharmaceuticals.

“We see AFRY as a valuable partner based on their deep and broad expertise in the Bio-based industry and other industrial sectors, while we feel secure with AFRY’s local presence and global strength. AFRY’s industrial and process technology expertise and their external perspective to our internal development work ensures that we can work in an efficient and quality-assured way in close cooperation and dialogue”, says Monica Normark, Chief Technology Officer at Sekab.

“We are honored that Sekab has chosen us as a partner when they now move forward with the goal of scaling up and industrializing their own developed technology. We look forward to contributing to Sekab’s development for a more sustainable industry”, says Lisa Vedin, Head of Process Industries Sweden at AFRY.

The assignment includes project management services and process, piping, mechanical, electrical, instrumentation, automation and building engineering as part of an ongoing feasibility study and permit application process. In addition, AFRY is providing sustainability analysis and environmental services as well as resources for project owner.

The start of pre-engineering phase is expected to take place late 2021.