Slash – from logging residues to biofuel

Slash – an important fuel for the district heating sector

The demand for locally produced biofuel has increased in response to global uncertainty. Secure supply chains and a long-term perspective are driving developments in forestry, and a larger share of slash is now being recovered during harvesting operations.

Slash plays an important role as a fuel for both heat and power generation in the district heating sector. 

How we recover slash

The extraction of slash is preceded by what is known as slash-adapted harvesting. When trees are harvested, branches and tops are placed in piles alongside the harvester's extraction routes.

The slash is then left to dry on the clear-cut area over the summer before being forwarded to the roadside. The piles are covered with paper-based protective coverings and chipped during the heating season.

We supply slash to our customers either as wood chips or as loose slash, meaning unchipped slash.

Slash as a fuel

Slash chips are used as fuel in larger boilers and perform well in both grate-fired and fluidized-bed boilers. Drier volumes of slash chips and roadside vegetation residues can also be used to blend with wetter fuels, improving the overall dry matter content.

Slash chips typically have a moisture content of approximately 35–50%, an energy value of around 2.5 MWh per tonne, and an ash content of 1–2%.

To ensure efficient transportation and combustion, slash is processed through crushing or chipping.

SCA's forest fuel

The forest fuel currently produced by SCA consists of slash and roadside vegetation residues. It is primarily used to increase the degree of self-sufficiency at SCA's own industrial facilities and, secondly, is sold on the external market.

We prioritize slash from our own forests, particularly contorta pine. At present, we do not purchase slash from harvesting operations carried out by external forest owners, as the local slash market is still relatively small.

Long-term business partnerships with major fuel consumers are an important part of market development and may, over time, create opportunities for more forest owners to sell their slash.

Would you like to know more about available volumes, fuel quality or delivery solutions? Contact us for information about logging residues and other forest-based fuels.