Estonian investor Fibenol, which plans to invest up to 700 million euros to build one of the most modern biorefinery plants in Europe in Latvia, has chosen Valmiera Industrial Park as a possible location for the production, the Valmiera Regional Municipality reported. As a result of a public auction on August 27, a development rights agreement was signed between the company and the Valmiera Regional Municipality, which gives the company the right to begin all the necessary preparatory work for the implementation of the large-scale construction plan. If the preliminary study is successful, production could begin around 2030, the municipality predicts. Fibenol Latvia Board Member Merili Palu reported that the company in Imavere, Estonia, has successfully created pilot equipment based on a commercial-scale biorefinery model to turn low-quality wood into functional biomaterials. Palu emphasizes that Valmiera is a suitable location for Fibenol's first commercial production. Based on initial assessments, it meets all the company's main requirements – sufficient area, the possibility of creating utility lines in an industrial-scale project and stable logistics connections, including a railway. Chairman of the Valmiera Regional Council Jānis Baiks (Valmiera and Vidzeme) believes that in the long term, the region's residents, wood processors and forestry workers will benefit from attracting such investments. The bioeconomy sector has been identified as a priority in the Valmiera Industrial Park in order to develop the development and production of high-added-value products in the Vidzeme region. Baiks reports that the local government continues an active dialogue with all investment attraction structures so that more information about investment opportunities in industrial territories and objects is also available at the international level. Baiks added that there are still opportunities for investment in the Valmiera Industrial Park, and there are many resources in Latvia that could be used more innovatively. The local government notes that the cooperation between the Valmiera Region Local Government and the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia (LIAA), which has supported economic transformation processes, including by facilitating the work of entrepreneurs from smart specialization sectors in the Valmiera Industrial Park, plays an important role in attracting these investments to the Valmiera Industrial Park. LIAA Director Raivis Bremšmits says that Latvia needs to think not only about exports, but also about transforming its economy. Using the biorefining method, the Fibenol company will develop a production facility in Valmiera that will extract materials of biological origin from wood for road construction, the production of various plastics, the chemical industry and other needs where petroleum products were previously used, adds Bremšmits. Fibenol is a clean technology company that implements an innovative and patented technology for processing low-quality hardwood into functional biomaterials. These bio-based materials are a sustainable alternative to fossil materials that have a high environmental impact and cannot be restored, and are used in products such as adhesives, insulation materials, biocomposites and bitumen substitutes in asphalt mixtures. In addition, these new bio-based materials help reduce dependence on imported fossil raw materials. The planned commercial-scale biorefinery in Latvia has been granted the status of a state priority investment project and access to accelerated services of the Green Corridor initiative. The project has received support from the Latvian government, as confirmed by the memorandum of understanding signed between Fibenol and the Ministries of Economy, Finance, Agriculture and Climate, and Energy and LIAA. Fibenol Latvia was registered in March 2024 with a share capital of EUR 2,800. The owner of the company is the Estonian company Apalta Tehnoloogia, according to information on Firmas.lv.
