Outotec and Skellefteå Kraft to establish a joint venture for bioenergy technology business

OUTOTEC OYJ PRESS RELEASE, FEBRUARY 13, 2009 AT 1.00 PM

Outotec and Skellefteå Kraft to establish a joint venture for bioenergy technology business

Outotec and Skellefteå Kraft AB have today agreed to establish a joint company GreenExergy AB. The company will focus on the development, marketing and delivery of technologies to bioenergy power plants for the production of bioenergy from forestry and sawmill residues. Outotec's stake will be 45%, Skellefteå Kraft's 33%, and three Swedish companies will each have a minor stake in the joint venture. The new company is expected to start operation in the first half of 2009 in Sweden.

The joint venture partners estimate that the market potential for the bioenergy technology in Scandinavia and Western Europe is a few hundred million euros and that it will increase markedly in future.

Skellefteå Kraft is one of the largest energy producers in Sweden and owns a number of combined heat and power plants based on biofuel. The company has developed process technology for producing bioenergy in the form of electricity, heat and pellets from forestry and sawmill residues, and two of its plants use this technology. The process is based on innovative raw material drying technology, which considerably improves the energy-efficiency of the production compared to alternative technologies.

Outotec has extensive know-how and global experience in technology development, technology sales, plant engineering and project implementation. It will provide these services in projects marketed and delivered by GreenExergy.

The bioenergy technology of GreenExergy will complement Outotec's existing energy related competences in coal charring, gasification and combustion, oil shale pyrolysis, roasting of sulfidic ores and off-gas cleaning. Outotec maximizes the energy-efficiency in all 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 the plants using Outotec's technology.

"This joint venture supports Outotec's growth strategy, brings significant synergy benefits and complements our know-how of sustainable energy production technologies. We are looking for opportunities to expand our business outside the mining and metals industry to other process industries. Energy and environmental technologies are areas close to our expertise and we see big business potential there," Tapani Järvinen, CEO of Outotec, says.

For further information please contact:

OUTOTEC OYJ

Jan H Nilsson, President - Outotec (Sweden) AB

tel. +46 910 87622

e-mail jan.h.nilsson(at)outotec.com

Eila Paatela, Vice President - Corporate Communications

tel. +358 20 529 2004, +358 400 817198

e-mail eila.paatela(at)outotec.com

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