Outotec is expanding into the energy and industrial water treatment industries. The company has established two new business units that will focus primarily on these technologies. It has several competencies, technologies and proprietary equipment, which are utilised in the mining and metallurgical industry, and which can be adopted in other process industries. These new businesses, the company feels, will provide many growth opportunities.By utilising its extensive experience in engineering and project implementation as well as the expertise in water treatment, combustion and heat recovery, it believes it will be able to offer value-adding technologies and services to both sectors.
“These businesses have an excellent fit to our existing technology portfolio and will create new revenue streams. In the long term, our goal is to strengthen the energy and water-related businesses by acquisitions, alliances, and license agreements,” explains Tapani Järvinen, CEO of Outotec.
Outotec’s competencies and offerings for the energy sector include coal charring, gasification and combustion technologies for various plants, for example oil shale pyrolysis and combustion for crude oil production. For all thermo-processing plants, the company offers heat recovery and gas cleaning systems. Outotec maximises energy efficiency in all of its processes that operate at elevated temperatures by using the off-gas heat in other plant areas as an energy source. This reduces the carbon dioxide emissions of plants using Outotec technology.
The company is already cooperating with Eesti Energia, based in Estonia (Innovation News, IM March 2009), for the development and marketing of sustainable, energy-efficient and economically viable oil shale processing methods. The company is also currently providing basic engineering and test work for a plant producing oil from Estonian oil shale.
“We are seeking growth in the energy business by improving and increasing our technical competencies and offerings related to energy production,” notes Dr. Andreas Orth, Vice President – Energy, who will head the newly created energy business unit under the company’s Metals Processing division in Germany.
Industrial water treatment is, according to the company, one of the fastest-growing business areas in the mining and metallurgical industry and has become a crucial element for many companies facing environmental challenges and stricter regulation. “We are going to combine our expertise related to water treatment and wet chemistry and develop a business that utilises Outotec’s existing technologies and proprietary equipment,” explains Bernd Kerstiens, Vice President – Industrial Water Treatment, who will lead all water-related activities for the company from Espoo, Finland.