He Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) early extension of the concession UPM Fray Bentos SA for the exploitation of free zones, at the request of the Finnish company that recently opened its second plant in Uruguay, and which is now authorized to operate until 2053.
The concession of the free zone of Fray Bentos that had UPM It went until 2034, according to a resolution of the Executive Power in 2004. However, the multinational requested an extension before the end year arrived.
In the document prepared by the current government, it is explained that the “technical services of the National Directorate of Free Zones” informed that “the extension of the term requested conforms to the requirements established by the Executive Power in the resolution” of 2004. These requirements are regulated by law 17,566 and ensures that the company “It has been satisfactorily fulfilling its obligations, generating employment, thus contributing to the objectives” set initially.
“UPM Fray Bentos has been promoting an additional investment plan, which will be completed this year,” he added. These arguments were recognized by the government, which extended the concession for the Finnish company.
UPM plants, keys for the energy sector
UPM’s pulp mills changed the energy landscape in the country and generate a 6.4% of the country’s electricity demand, according to a report by SEG Ingeniería, which shows that they consume the 28% of total energy nationwide.
The survey, which also collects data from the National Energy Balance, prepared by the National Energy Directorate, shows that the industrial sector was the main driver of the growth of energy consumption during the last decades, which passed from 21% to the current 42%.
In turn, it was highlighted that, so far this century, final energy consumption has increased by 89%, being the industrial sector responsible for the 67% of this variation. According to the report, from 2018 to 2022, the 6.4% of the country’s electricity demand was supplied by the two pulp mills.
It is that, in the production process, the pulp mills obtain substances with energy content. That transforms to UPM 2 in the fourth largest power plant in Uruguay, as they pointed out, since most of the energy used by the paper mills comes from biomass residues, mainly from eucalyptus plantations that are the raw material for the manufacture of cellulose.
From the survey it appears that the pulp industry represents today the 65% of the final energy consumption of the Uruguayan industry and the 28% of the country’s total demand, which reflects the impacts of the two pulp mills installed a few years ago: UPM Fray Bentos, in Black river; and Silver Mountains, in Shells in Cologne.
Source: Ambito
