Koehler Paper Switched to 100 Percent Green Energy

The Koehler Group has been developing the first steps in its climate strategy for some years now, including its “2030 promise”. The company has been completing highly successful projects to continuously reduce the energy consumed in its paper production operations.

Since the start of 2021, the new production line 8 in Kehl has been using 100 percent green energy. Steam from the biomass combined heat and power plant at the Kehl site has been used to dry the paper web with virtually zero CO2 emissions since the plant started up in 2019. The 75,000 MWh of electricity consumed by the factory per year comes entirely from green energy generated by a single regional source – the Schluchsee hydroelectric power plant in the Black Forest.

“We estimate this step will save around 45,000 tonnes of CO2 per year,” explains Dr Stefan Karrer, COO at the Koehler Group, enthusiastically. The move shows the company’s focus on sustainability doesn’t begin and end with sustainable products. “The flexible packaging paper and Blue4est® environmental-friendly thermal paper that we make on production line 8 in Kehl have been produced using renewable energy since the start of the year,” continues Dr Karrer.

Climate-friendly manufacturing on production line 8 is just one of many projects being pursued by the Koehler Group to achieve the climate strategy goals it has set for itself and to play its part in implementing the Paris Agreement. The company is working toward using alternative, more sustainable energy sources for its entire paper production energy supply.