Kinnusen Mylly

Turning waste into energy and heating

The fully oat-based Kinnunen mill in Utajärvi, Finland is challenging large mills in Central Europe with its own gluten-free oat products. The Nevel 3.5 MW heat plant produces energy for the oat mill and a nearby feed mill, as well as provides district heating in the Utajärvi municipality. All energy will be produced from oat hulls, a byproduct of the milling process.

BENEFITS

Reliable supply
Increased sustainability
Reduced byproducts

“Nevel's offer was considered the best because it was competitive and credible – if oat hulls are temporarily unavailable, Nevel supplies dry wood pellets that can be burned without needing to change the controls.”

Petri Leskinen

Senior Vice President for Habitat, Utajärvi Municipality

A local circular economy

The mill produces up to six million kilos of oat hulls each year. The oat hulls only need to travel a few dozen meters before reaching the silo and finally the boiler, saving on transport costs and emissions. By burning the hulls, water is heated and the resulting steam provides energy for the oat and feed mills. In order to minimise waste, the nearby feed mill uses the grain that is not suitable for flour and large-scale food use. Excess oat hulls are also used in reindeer feed.

6 million kg

Oat hulls produced per year

50

Buildings heated

From byproduct to district heating

In Utajärvi, district heating is used for public buildings and several housing companies. The 3.5 MW heat plant for the Kinnunen mill provides heat for over 50 buildings in the municipality. Initially, Utajärvi intended to buy the heat to distribute in its own network, but ultimately decided to sell the network to Nevel – freeing up resources to use elsewhere in the municipality.

“We generate up to six million kilos of oat hulls as a byproduct each year. When we made the decision to build the oat mill we already knew that we’d like to use the hulls to produce sustainable energy.”

Toni Kuure

Procurement and Product Development Director, Kinnusen Mylly