Finnish beer malt will soon be produced in the world’s most energy-efficient process

Adven – News – Finnish beer malt will soon be produced in the world’s most energy-efficient process
21st January 2021
News Food & Beverage

There is almost always one manufacturer behind the malts of Finnish beers – Viking Malt’s malt-house in Lahti, Finland. Viking Malt Group is building a completely new malt-house in place of the current one and next to the malt house, Adven implements an exceptional energy solution that has not been seen before in Finland.

The solution has received investment support from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment for new energy technology. In the new malt house, the energy production, i.e. heat production, cooling plant and heat pump system, will be integrated in a new way into a single entity that simultaneously produces heat and cooling.

In addition, barley husk by-products of the malt-house are reused as fuel in energy production. If waste heat or by-product is not available, the energy is mainly produced with pellets. Waste heat alone can cover more than 65 per cent of the heat energy needed. Especially when drying malt, a lot of heat is released, and this has previously been largely unused.

Improving energy efficiency with waste heat

“With the state-of-the-art malt-house even in the global level, we can guarantee that competitiveness and production will remain in Finland well into the future. For example, the utilization of waste heat is definitely a solution that will also be supported politically in the future,” says Mika Mäkelä, Project Manager at Viking Malt.

“Waste heat recovery is one of the major trends in the energy sector: instead of burning more and more, improving energy efficiency and identifying the process steps where heat can be recovered and reused will be in focus. The goals for carbon neutrality and the development of heat pump technology guide towards waste heat recovery as an energy solution now and certainly in the future,” says Hanna Litendahl, Sales Manager at Adven.

The utilization of biofuels and waste heat covers almost all the thermal energy needed by the malthouse.

Exceptionally energy efficient malt-house with low emissions

  • Waste heat is efficiently recovered
  • Adven uses excess barley husk with low nutritional value to produce energy for the malthouse
  • Heat production, cooling plant and heat pump system are integrated into a single entity that simultaneously produces heat and cooling
  • The energy solution is automated – with precise adjustability, energy can be produced as efficiently as possible
  • The production capacity of the plant will be approximately 85,000 tonnes of malt per year
  • According to the plan, the new plant will start production in 2023

With the state-of-the-art malt-house even in the global level, we can guarantee that competitiveness and production will remain in Finland well into the future. For example, the utilization of waste heat is definitely a solution that will also be supported politically in the future.

Mika Mäkelä
Project Manager at Viking Malt

Read more about Viking Malt and Adven:

13 June 2023: Viking Malt’s new plant up and running | Adven

26 October 2022: Partnership enables solutions for energy efficiency | Adven