Tuomas Niinistö, Perttu Anttila, Janne Kaseva, Lauri Sikanen, Kalle Kärhä, Johanna Routa. (2025). Energy wood flows and the operational environment of supply chains in finland: insights from a supplier survey. Silva Fennica vol. 59 no. 3 article id 25011. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.25011

Keywords: bioenergy; forest chips; energy transition; energy wood procurement; wood fuel supply

Highlights: Most of the consumed energy wood is sourced within 100 km of the plant; Energy wood transport distance increases with the higher consumption level of plant; Industrial roundwood could cover 25–33% of roundwood burned; Most of the stumps are sourced from land-use change areas; Economic viability of harvesting small-diameter trees should be increased to divert energy wood harvesting to young forests.

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Energy wood supply has faced significant challenges in Finland in recent years. While forest chip consumption has increased, the cessation of wood imports from Russia has added pressure on the use of domestic forest resources. This study examined the status of energy wood supply to heat-only and combined heat and power (CHP) plants from the perspective of energy wood suppliers. The survey-based study particularly focused on energy wood transport distances, the origin of delivered energy wood, and the proportion of various assortments. The operational environment, including wood fuel storage capacity and policy impacts, was also investigated. The results indicate that most energy wood consumed as forest chips was sourced less than 100 km from the consumer plant. However, these transport distances depended on annual forest chip consumption at the delivery point plant. Notably, energy wood was supplemented by roundwood that otherwise would have been suitable for processing in the forest industry; the proportion of that was 25–33% of all roundwood delivered. The results of this study also highlighted the visible role of land-use change areas, especially for stump sourcing, while imported wood accounted for only a small fraction of the supply. In conclusion, to reduce the burning of industrial roundwood and to divert energy wood harvesting to young commercial forests, policy should place greater emphasis on the economic viability of harvesting small-diameter trees for energy production. Furthermore, uncertainty in the operational environment, caused by policy changes, should be mitigated.

Niinistö, Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Latokartanonkaari 9, FI-00790 Helsinki, Finland https://orcid.org/0009-0006-2645-0095 E-mail: tuomas.niinisto@luke.fi
Anttila, Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Latokartanonkaari 9, FI-00790 Helsinki, Finland https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6131-392X E-mail: perttu.anttila@luke.fi
Kaseva, Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Tietotie 4, FI-31600 Jokioinen, Finland https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8167-5434 E-mail: janne.kaseva@luke.fi
Sikanen, Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Yliopistokatu 6b, FI-80100 Joensuu, Finland https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6368-2879 E-mail: lauri.sikanen@luke.fi
Kärhä, School of Forest Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, Yliopistokatu 7, FI-80101 Joensuu, Finland E-mail: kalle.karha@uef.fi
Routa, Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Latokartanonkaari 9, FI-00790 Helsinki, Finland https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7225-1798 E-mail: johanna.routa@luke.fi

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