IP will invest US$ 90 million to generate more energy
Valor Econômico
International Paper (IP) announces today the largest investment in the management of its President in Brazil, Jean-Michel Ribieras, who arrived in the country in early 2010. More than US$ 90 million will be directed towards the growth of the own generation of energy. The idea is to increase the energy self-sufficiency and reduce the costs of the operations of the American multinational in the country. The resources will be invested in the construction of a new biomass boiler in pulp and paper producing unit of Mogi Guaçu, in the interior of São Paulo. The project was approved by the Board of Directors of the company last week, after two years of its internal submission. "The first reason to install the new boiler is the reduction of costs, and our environmental and forestry strategy", affirmed Ribieras to Valor.
The new boiler - the largest of the IP system in Brazil - will have capacity to generate 210 tons of steam per hour. That is equivalent, in energy, to supply nearly 40 thousand households. With that production, the company affirms it will have 90% of self-sufficiency of the energy consumed throughout its operation in the country. The system of consumption of energy of the paper manufacturer involves, besides electricity, oil, gas and coal, energy from biomass and recovery energy. The generation of biomass energy from planted eucalyptus wood residues. As regards the recovery energy, it is produced with the black liquor, a byproduct of the wood that is not used in the production of pulp and paper. Those two forms of production of energy represented - before the investment announced today - 75% of the total energy consumption of IP Brasil.
So far, the company had three recovery boilers (two in the plant of Mogi Guaçu and one in the unit of Luiz Antônio, São Paulo) and three biomass boilers (one in Mogi and two in Luiz Antônio). It is worth remembering the boilers in the unit of Três Lagoas (MS) belong to Fibria - pulp manufacturer of the Votorantim and BNDES group -, result of an agreement between the two companies. The works of the boiler begin in April and it shall go into operation in the first quarter of 2013. At the peak of construction, the project will involve more than one thousand workers. "It is a great investment", says Ribieras, remembering the US$ 90 million to be spent in the two years represent nearly one third of the amount spent in the setting up of the whole paper plant of Três Lagoas.
The company is focused on the reduction of the total costs. According to the Executive, the expenses with energy of a company that produces paper and pulp, in general, can represent up to 30% of its total costs. Ribieras, however, does not say what would be the economy the new investment would bring the Brazilian operations of IP. "They (the economies) will be significant", he summarizes. According to the Executive, the selection of the suppliers contracted for the execution of the project is still under evaluation.
The paper productive capacity of International Paper Brasil amount to 1 million tons a year. The production of pulp, on its in turn, has capacity for 810 thousand tons - virtually entirely intended for the internal consumption in the production of paper. Last year, the Brazilian subsidiary accumulated earnings of US$ 1.089 billion, an advance compared to the US$ 962 million registered in 2009. The investments of the company in 2010, on their turn, amounted to US$ 88 million.