Suzano has officially launched commercial operations at its biomass power plant in Ribas do Rio Pardo, Mato Grosso do Sul.
The facility, fueled primarily by black liquor—a high-energy byproduct of the pulp and paper industry—has an installed capacity of 384 megawatts (MW).
With authorization from Brazil’s National Electric Energy Agency (ANEEL), issued on January 29, the plant is now part of the national power grid. While most of the energy will support Suzano’s operations, approximately 180 MW will be supplied to local suppliers and the National Interconnected System (SIN), enough to power a region with over 2 million people.
Suzano’s plant is now the second-largest biomass energy generator in Brazil, after its facility in Lençóis Paulista, São Paulo. In Mato Grosso do Sul, it ranks second only to Petrobras’ thermoelectric plant in Três Lagoas.
Black liquor, a byproduct of the Kraft pulp process, is burned to produce heat and steam, which generates electricity. Brazil currently has 22 other power plants using black liquor, with a total capacity of over 3.3 gigawatts.
Suzano is a Brazilian company that is one of the largest producers of pulp and paper in the world. It specializes in producing paper, wood products, and a variety of pulp-based products. The company operates in multiple markets globally and is recognized for its sustainable practices and efforts to reduce environmental impact.