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Project Dates

Start: 2016

The Story

To tackle the climate crisis, there is an urgent need for an alternative to fossil fuels that is clean, cheap, quickly scalable and infinite. NextFuel has developed an industrial-scale torrefaction technology that can play a key role in the energy transition by converting large quantities of abundant biomass, such as straw, or agro-industrial residues, such as bagasse, intosustainable replacement of fossil coal. Development work started in 2010 in Austria, leading to an industrial-scale pilot plant in Frohnleiten. Over a decade, use cases have been developed and investors for first large-scale project attracted. Taaleri, a Helsinki based asset management and project development company, has initiated the first large-scale torrefaction project based on NextFuel’s technology in Finland. The project company Joensuu Biocoal Oy (www.joensuubiocoal.fi) started construction in 2023, leading to commissioning during
2025.

Together with local partners, the start-up is currently implementing the first phase of several commercial projects for companies within the utility-, steel- and cement industry. In its first East-African project, for example, the target is to replace 250,000 tonnes of coal with the CO2-negative NextFuel briquette, thereby cutting the client’s energy cost in half in one of their cement factories.

Apart from replacing fossil fuels, pollution reduction is another advantage of this innovative technology, because NextFuel burns nearly smokeless and can therefore reduce smog problems in cities with air pollution. It is also suited to replace traditional cooking fuels in developing countries thereby saving both forests and lives.

Success Factor | Hero Moment

Taaleri, a Helsinki based asset management and project development company, has initiated the first large-scale torrefaction project based on NextFuel’s technology in Finland.
The project company Joensuu Biocoal Oy (www.joensuubiocoal.fi) started construction in 2023, leading to commissioning during 2025.

Submitter

NextFuel