A newly constructed power plant by wood-based material manufacturer Egger at its plant in St. Johann in Tirol, Austria, has generated its first electricity.
Construction began on the plant in spring 2024, and an investment of around €80 million has been made by Egger to build it as part of the company’s long-term energy and environmental project.
The power plant has a steam boiler and combined heat and power generation based on biogenic fuels, which will allow the company to provide electricity for its own production processes.
A 14.5 MW turbine has been installed for electricity generation, which will produce around 100,000 MWh of electrical energy per year. Following this first use of the plant, project completion and the transition to full operation are planned for Q3 2026.
“The first electricity generation marks a significant stage in the technical implementation of the project,” said project manager Hans Feiersinger. “The focus now is on a stable ramp-up and the further integration of the facility into ongoing operations.”
Johannes Salvenmoser, Plant Director Technical/Production in St. Johann, added: “We are becoming less dependent on volatile energy markets and securing our production processes in the long term.” Another advantage that supports EGGER’s climate strategy: “In normal operation, we will in future produce without natural gas.”
The project at the St. Johann in Tirol location is part of EGGER’s long-term climate strategy. As a manufacturing company, EGGER keeps climate-impacting greenhouse gas emissions along its own value chain in focus and recognises its responsibility to reduce them step by step.
EGGER produces in a resource-efficient material cycle. Among other things, sawmill by-products such as wood chips and sawdust are processed into wood-based materials together with thinning and recycled wood.
Old furniture, pallets and packaging material as well as scrap material from the company’s own production are processed for material recycling. The resulting residues, which cannot be recycled, can be utilised on-site in the new power plant to generate heat and electricity without the need for additional transport. With this closed cycle, EGGER utilises the valuable resource of wood comprehensively and responsibly.
