Swedish municipal energy utility Stockholm Exergi AB has joined Baltpool UAB – the Lithuanian state-owned online biomass trading platform – making it the first Swedish company to do so. Baltpool, which started operations in 2013, has emerged as a proven trading platform for biomass fuels such as wood pellets and woodchips with 450 members from Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Denmark, and now Sweden.
Jointly owned by the City of Stockholm and Finland-headed energy major Fortum Oyj, Stockholm Exergi is the largest energy utility in the greater Stockholm area. In 2019 it supplied over 9 800 GWh of energy, predominately as heat, of which biomass and waste accounted for 39 percent and 27 percent of the fuel energy supply respectively.
Via Baltpool, trade is offered with wood pellets and woodchips that are classified in the same way regardless of country of origin, for example, the range SM1 is woodchips from fuelwood while SM3 is woodchips from logging residues.
According to Baltpool, the biomass – both woodchips and pellets – secured by Stockholm Exergi through trading on Baltpool will be used in three large combined heat and power (CHP) plants:
- Värtaverket – annual demand around 2 million MWh of woodchips;
- Hässelbyverket – annual demand around 450 000 MWh of pellets;
- Bristaverket – annual demand around 650 000 MWh of woodchips.
According to Stockholm Exergi, trading via Baltpool gives the company an opportunity to contact more and new suppliers while the auction procedure guarantees healthy competition and transparency. In addition, several suppliers can contribute towards the same total volume.
If we want to buy a certain amount, say 15 000 MWh, there can be several so-called “bids” on smaller volumes until you have built up to 15 000 MWh. The fuel price will be the last bid, which determines the final price, said Monica Lundgren, Head of Fuel Supply at Stockholm Exergi.
Sustainability crucial
Suppliers using Baltpool mainly offer Forest Stewardship Council’s (FSC) certified fuel and also work to also include Sustainable Biomass Program (SBP) certified fuel.
To ensure sustainability, the trade is monitored by the non-profit organization Preferred by Nature (formerly known as NEPCon), which reviews sustainability certificates, among other things.
It is central to us that the fuel we buy is sustainable and that every purchase follows our processes for Supplier Selection and counterparty control. Therefore, we will continue to work and let both our traders, lawyers, and sustainability specialists review the standard agreements used in transactions at Baltpool, so that we ensure that the sustainability criteria are compatible with our own requirements when purchasing, said Monica Lundgren.
Stockholm Energi is certified according to the FSGC’s Chain of Custody (CoC) standard for traceability – license number FSC-C126045.
