Innofreight and inno4wood are now on the road for Papierholz Austria to supply paper manufacturer Sappi with biomass. Every week, a train leaves Celje or Kranj for Gratwein, carrying 500 tons of this valuable raw material.

Biomass is considered the energy source of the future. Across Europe, leading companies are working to convert their coal-fired power plants and improve their carbon footprint. The seamless transport of this sustainable raw material requires a tailor-made logistics solution, which is now in use between Slovenia and Austria.

Every week, ten 2×40 ft InnoWagons with a total of 40 WoodTainer XXL containers set off from Celje or Kranj. Thanks to the optimized interaction between wagon and container, even more goods are finding their way from road to rail, one block train replaces more than 20 trucks. An impressive 500 tons of biomass are transported each week, which is then used at Sappi. Decarbonization is progressing rapidly there, so the demand for biomass is enormous: Sappi’s modernized boiler alone requires 300,000 tons per year and relies on a perfectly coordinated, sustainable logistics chain.

For unloading, Sappi relies on Central Europe’s first fully electrically powered rotary forklift – developed by Innofreight and Kalmar. Compared to the previous diesel model, it reduces energy consumption by an impressive 70 percent. Even the last piece of the puzzle, namely the first mile on the road or even in the forest, could be handled electrically in the future. To further reduce CO2 emissions, timber transport is increasingly being shifted to rail. As a full-service provider, Innofreight offers a wide range of high-performance solutions: The OpenSideTainer XX20 is perfectly tailored to the combination of finished products and recycled wood, while the GigaWood system combines the safe transport of round timber, sawn timber, and containers.

Empty runs will be a thing of the past in the future. At the same time, innovative products such as the 80 ft InnoWaggon provide a 15 percent increase in payload, while infrastructure projects worth billions are even doubling the potential of rail transport. This flexibility has characterized the partnership between Innofreight, Papierholz Austria, and Sappi for more than 20 years. Together, they will continue to work successfully in the future to transport the valuable raw material wood in a sustainable and competitive manner.