Energia-uutiset

CHP and district
heating in Finland 2011
1

Improve energy efficiency …
... and reduce CO 2 emissions
LOGSTOR pre-insulated pipe technology
improves the efficiency of your district heating
and cooling systems. It makes sure as much
as possible of the generated energy gets to the
user, with no leaks and with the absolute minimum
of heat loss - even over long distances.
This helps dramatically reduce your operating
costs as well as your CO 2 emissions.
Contact us or calculate the reductions you can
achieve on www.logstor.com/calculator
CO2 reduction
10 years
20 years
30 years
5.4 tons CO 2 13.6 tons CO 2 22.9 tons CO 2
The CO 2 reductions shown above are
achieved with 100 metres Ø28/90 mm
SteelFlex pipe with lambda 0.023 W/mK and
diffusion barrier. Compared to traditional
flex-pipe with lambda 0.026 W/mK, without
diffusion barrier.
pindpromotor.dk 19081
LOGSTOR A/S
Danmarksvej 11 · DK-9670 Løgstør
Tel. +45 9966 1000 · Fax +45 9966 1180
logstor@logstor.com · www.logstor.com
LOGSTOR Finland Oy
Rajalantie 5 · P.O. Box 37 · FI-43100 Saarijärvi
Tel. +358 10 30 37500 · Fax +358 10 30 37503
myynti@logstor.com · www.logstor.fi
19081_FI_A5 annonce.indd 1 22/04/10 8:14:23
Natural gas is an effi cient and low-emission alternative
for combined heat and power (CHP) production.
In 2010 it accounted for 35% of fuels used in Finnish
CHP plants.
For cleaner future Gasum promotes the usage of biogas
and is engaged in bio-SNG development for CHP needs.
Replacing coal with natural or bio-based gas cuts down
CO 2
emissions signifi cantly.
2
www.gasum.com

ISSN 1237-6388
EDITORIAL STAFF
Jari Kostama, Matti Nuutila, Veli-Pekka
Sirola, Mirja Tiitinen, Antti Kohopää,
Petri Sallinen
MANAGING EDITOR
Petri Sallinen
+358 (0)9 5305 2717
+358 (0)50 548 1113
petri.sallinen@energia.fi
SECRETARY OF EDITORIAL STAFF
Riitta Lahti
+358 (0)9 5305 2715
+358 (0)50 548 1127
riitta.lahti@energia.fi
POSTAL ADDRESS
Energiauutiset
P.O. Box 1427
FI-00101 Helsinki, Finland
SALES OF ADVERTISEMENTS
Varparus Oy/Esko Vartiainen
+358 (0)9 682 3711
+358 (0)400 508 450
ORDERS
Riitta Lahti
+358 (0)9 5305 2715
+358 (0)50 548 1127
riitta.lahti@energia.fi
CHANGE OF ADDRESS
Riitta Lahti
+358 (0)9 5305 2715
+358 (0)50 548 1127
riitta.lahti@energia.fi
ENGLISH TRANSLATION
Hannu Hakala
PUBLISHED BY
Association of Finnish Energy Industries
PUBLISHER
Adato Energia Oy
P.O. Box 1427,
FI-00101 Helsinki, Finland
Tel. +358 (0)9 5305 2700
Fax +358 (0)9 5305 2800
www.adato.fi
PRINTED BY
Painorauma Oy
Hitsaajantie 2
FI-26820 Rauma, Finland
Tel. +358 (0)2 838 3200
Fax +358 (0)2 838 3230
repro@painorauma.fi
Contents
Osmo Soininvaara, the Greens:
Emissions trading is the best way of control....................................................... 5
Natural gas is the most common fuel
in district heating in Finland................................................................................ 9
Tougher fuel taxes in Finland
– Tax increase punishes district heating.............................................................15
Low2No..............................................................................................................17
Combined heat and power production for over 50 years....................................19
Helsinki Energy: strength in innovative
methods of heat and cooling production........................................................... 20
The smallest CHP plant in Finland works successfully....................................... 22
Fortum and Elisa working together: Heat recovered
from a computer room within rock..................................................................... 26
Solar district heat studied in Porvoo................................................................. 28
Savings through new technology...................................................................... 29
Flue gas scrubber cleans and heats................................................................... 30
Good insulation of district heating pipes improves
energy efficiency: Heat losses under control..................................................... 32
Finnish district heating know-how exported to
Eastern Europe and China................................................................................. 34
Interest towards China...................................................................................... 35
3

4

Text by Markku Niskanen
Osmo Soininvaara, the Greens:
Emissions trading is
the best way of control
“The European climate policy would succeed better by just
applying a carbon dioxide objective. A sufficiently high price of
an emission allowance would also be the best way to control the
energy investments.”
“If each member state of the EU
was to cut its emissions in the
manner it sees fit, the results
would be better. There is no need to
use renewable energy as the compulsory
leverage of climate policy.”
This takes Osmo Soininvaara’s
thoughts elsewhere.
“To agricultural policy,” he replies
even before the question is uttered.
He raises two examples which give
cause for criticism:
“In the USA, they give maize, which
would suffice 200 million people, to cars.
This is their way of replacing 8 per cent
of the fossil fuels used in transport with
a renewable fuel, and at the same time
bringing up the grain prices. They should
use smaller cars! Even though palm oil,
which can be processed into diesel fuel,
is obtained in areas where rain forests no
longer need to be cut down and where
rain forests can no longer regenerate themselves,
the local residents must clear new
fields for food production.”
According to Osmo Soininvaara,
deteriorated food supply globally and a
rise in the price of food may soon reduce
the use of field energy.
However, he believes that the global
climate objectives can be reached.
“The use of energy can be intensified
considerably in the northern conditions,
too. Since buildings and transport account
for more than half of the energy used in
Finland, good results can also be achieved
through urban planning.”
Buildings consume much energy in
the cold Finland, although district heating
is a common method of heating also
in the smaller towns. Almost half of the
Finnish buildings are connected to district
heating networks.
On foot and by bike
Osmo Soininvaara comes to the cafeteria
located in the heart of Helsinki by foot.
He lives as he speaks and writes. This
observer and politician, who rode across
Europe by bicycle a few years ago, does
not own a car. He prefers public transport
and especially rail transport.
“This bad weather annoys me, since
I can’t do my daily bike exercise today,”
Marja Airio/Lehtikuva
5

Who Osmo
Soininvaara?
Osmo Soininvaara, 59, Member of
Finnish Parliament, has followed the
developments in the surrounding
world from many aspects. He is known
as the ideologist of the Finnish Green
party and as an opinion leader and
observer, who uses an objective style
to comment on the events of the world
in his blog, among other venues.
For the past four years, this Licentiate
in Political Science has worked
as a writer, lecturer, and in numerous
positions of trust. He has served as a
city councillor of Helsinki since 1985.
At present, he is, among other things,
the deputy chairman of the City Planning
Committee of Helsinki and the
chairman of the Advisory Board of the
Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority
of Finland.
Osmo Soininvaara has been a
Member of Parliament also previously,
in 1987-1991 and 1995-2007. He
served as the Minister of Health and
Social Services in the early 2000s for
two years and as the chairman of the
Greens of Finland for five years. Osmo
Soininvaara, who has also been a
member of the City Board of Helsinki,
has served as a member of the Energy
Policy Council and before his political
career in the 1980s as acting Assistant
Professor at the Department of Statistics
of the University of Helsinki.
Martti Kainulainen/Lehtikuva
Osmo Soininvaara starts with a coffee cup
in his hand.
He has many good reasons to encourage
even others to go to the shop on foot
or by bicycle.
“We should favour urban services. Easily
accessible services are cherished everywhere
in Europe. One good example is
Holland, where a shopping centre may not
be located farther than 300 meters from
the nearest railway station. There is strong
opposition against the location of shopping
centres outside communities especially in
France, where they are feared to disrupt
the traditional fabric of life and culture.”
Objectives to increase renewable
energy will remain a dream
The EU and Finland can hardly achieve the
objective to increase the use of renewable
energy sources by 2020. Osmo Soininvaara
considers this objective as unrealistic.
“Finland is expected to make completely
inappropriate and unnecessary investments
so that the share of renewable
energy would rise to 38 per cent. It is much
more sensible to reduce the emissions by
reducing the use of energy.”
He takes a breath and sneers.
“Not all Greens like this, but I say it
anyway. The initial starting point could be
the price of an emission allowance, which
at the moment is 17 euros per tonne. This
is too little, but a higher price of an emission
allowance would guide the measures
optimally. The price would determine a level
where the more inexpensive measures should
be carried out, and the more expensive
means could be left waiting.”
As an extreme example, Osmo Soininvaara
gives sea wind power planned on the
coast of Finland. He estimates that the price
of its emission allowance will be more than
100 euros per tonne of CO 2
.
“If emissions trading applied to all energy
consumption, including transport, energy
use would be intensified significantly.”
However, he does not turn his back on
wind power. Wisely located, it is part of the
future also in less windy areas.
“If the European countries were integrated
to a high-capacity Supergrid, electricity
could also be imported into Finland from
the wind turbines revolving uninterruptedly
on the coasts of Norway or Scotland when
it is not windy enough for the needs of wind
power production in Finland.”
Osmo Soininvaara considers electric
heating as a far more disturbing factor than
wind power. Temperature variations cause a
variation of a couple of thousand megawatts
in electricity consumption in Finland. He
does not exclude the possibility that the
EU will use a directive to intervene with
the popularity of electric heating.
“New single-family houses, which are
only provided with electric heating, are
still built in Finland. When the price of
an emission allowance rises to 50 euros,
electric heating becomes really expensive.”
Breakthrough in district heating
Osmo Soininvaara thinks that district heating
will also undergo major changes. He
expects that the demand for district heating
will taper off.
“Passive energy houses will reduce the
profitability of the district heating network,
because the need for heating energy in such
buildings is minimal. But because there is still
a need for hot water, it is worthwhile connecting
buildings located conveniently close
to a district heating network to the network.”
“District heat, which is generated as a
by-product of electricity in Helsinki and
other towns in Finland, will remain a good
product for a length of time, and its further
development continues. In Helsinki, the
production of district cooling is integrated
with district heating. As an example, cooling
air is supplied to large computer facilities,
and heat is recovered from them to be used
in district heating.”
The integration of cooling and heating
production fascinates Osmo Soininvaara.
He also says straight out that there is
no sense in geothermal energy in an area
where there is a district heating network.
“A building heated with geothermal
energy consumes twice as much energy as
a building provided with district heating.”
“We are moving towards renewable
fuels too hastily. The wise thing to do would
be to allow the price of emission allow­
6

Marja Airio/Lehtikuva
ances solve the situation. On the other
hand, for example Helsinki Energy can
initially increase the use of natural gas and
substitute it for coal. However, we will have
to abandon coal at some point,” Osmo
Soininvaara states.
Goal within 50 years
However, the change does not take place
quickly, because the Finnish building stock
is renewed at an annual rate of one per cent.
This is why Osmo Soininvaara has set the
goal 50 years to the future. By that time, at
least half of the Finnish buildings will be
renewed. He would like to accelerate the
renewal of the building stock.
“The precast concrete buildings constructed
in the 1970s were never meant to
last a long time. We should demolish suburbs
where the town plans were poorly drawn up
and where the houses just cannot be made
energy efficient at a reasonable price.”
Osmo Soininvaara, who has been involved
in local politics and urban planning
in Helsinki since the 1980s, does not shun
outspokenness.
Energy carries more and more weight
in urban planning, but, according to Osmo
Soininvaara’s experience, in an inconsistent
and random manner. He says that the
City Planning Committee of Helsinki has
improved, among other things, the building
efficiency of new areas planned in former
port areas.
“The urban structure of Helsinki is being
converted to become more efficient and compact,
but in other areas the former practices
prevail. The change is coming, but too slowly.”
Transport also involved
The developments with buildings and their
energy use have been positive, but Osmo
Soininvaara thinks that the direction is incorrect
in the trend with transport in denselypopulated
areas, which are, after all, quite
scarce in the sparsely-populated Finland.
“The urban structure has been decentralised
stupidly as compared to the European
– and even the American – urban
make-up. Because of legislation and availability
of plots, people have moved far from
towns and cities so that they could have
inexpensive housing.”
There are alternatives
Osmo Soininvaara follows the world events
almost uninterruptedly through newspapers
and the Internet. This is why he has a
thought-out comment on the implications
of the success of the Green party in Germany
in the elections held there. The elections
were preceded by the decision of the German
Government to restrict the production of
nuclear power plants in Germany.
“It was surprising that the price of an
emission allowance only rose by one euro,
to 17 euros. This indicates that the closing
of nuclear power plants in Germany will
not cause significant problems. The conclusion
is that it is possible to reduce carbon
dioxide, and there is an abundance of sites
where this can be done.”
However, in Osmo Soininvaara’s visions
Germany has a considerable impact on the
trend in emissions trading.
“If all nuclear power plants were to be
closed within a short period of time, the
price of emission allowances will certainly
rise, maybe quite dramatically.”
Agricultural and forestry policy
Finally, Osmo Soininvaara, who initially also
touched on agricultural policy, cannot help
saying his opinion on the high objective of
renewable energy set in Finland.
“The Finnish representatives were deliberately
too permissive in the EU negotiations.
This raises the value of forestry land.”
Osmo Soininvaara is not enthusiastic
about fuels derived from forests.
“Certainly, they can be used for energy
production more than now if the production
of the wood-processing industry decreases.
Moreover, wood is a better fuel than peat.” zx
7

8
Nina Kaverinen/Kuvaario

Text by Petri Sallinen
Natural gas is the most
common fuel in district
heating in Finland
District heat is produced in Finland in combined heat and power
(CHP) plants, and in thermal power plants which only produce
heat. The fuels used include a wide variety of energy raw materials,
with natural gas being the most common fuel. The use of district
heating increases steadily in Finland each year.
D
istrict heat production in Finland
totalled 38.7 terawatt hours in
2010. This is over 10 per cent
more than a year before. In Finland, the
foremost factor influencing the demand
for district heating is the outdoor temperature:
the colder the winter, the more heat
is needed. One new factor influencing the
operation of power plants is district cooling,
which is becoming more and more common.
Cogeneration or CHP plants which
produce both electricity and heat are common
in urban areas in Finland, but in recent
years they have also been built in smaller
built-up areas. In 2010, Finnish CHP plants
churned 27.3 terawatt hours of district
heat – 10 per cent more than a year before.
CHP is the most common way to produce
district heat in Finland: in 2010, more than
70 per cent of the district heat was generated
in CHP plants.
Thermal power plants, which only produce
heat, are used alongside CHP plants
and in built-up areas. The role of separate
heat production is especially highlighted
during cold winters, when the peak load
thermal power plants are used to level off
short-term consumption spikes. In 2010,
there were more cold periods than usually,
which is why the thermal power plants also
produced more heat than a year before.
CHP plants generate electricity alongside
district heat. When the plants produce
more district heat to meet the demand,
more electricity is also generated. Finnish
CHP plants produced 17.4 terawatt hours
of electricity in 2010. This is about 14 per
cent more than a year before.
Nearly half of homes
heated with district heat
Finland has a population of about 5.4
million people, and there are about 2.8
million homes that need to be heated.
Of the population, some 2.6 million live
in homes provided with district heating.
Consequently, 55 per cent of the district
heat is used for heating homes. Almost all
residential, business and public buildings
in the largest towns are connected to the
district heating network. Heating of industrial
buildings accounts for 10 per cent of
the annual consumption of district heat,
and the remainder 35 per cent is used by
public buildings, offices and shops.
The number of buildings which utilise
district heating increases steadily in Finland
each year. In 2009, some 4,000 new
properties were connected to the district
heating networks. Almost 70 per cent of
these were new buildings and the remainder
were buildings which changed their method
of heating.
Almost all new residential apartment
buildings – 97 per cent in 2009 – are connected
to district heating networks. Nearly
an equal proportion of new commercial
and office buildings join the district heating
network. Just over one half of the new
industrial buildings and 15 per cent of the
new single-family houses are heated with
district heat.
The average price of district heat (valueadded
tax included) in Finland was 5.51
euro cents per kilowatt hour in 2010. The
9

%
100
80
60
40
20
Fuels for district heat and cogeneration
other
coal
peat
natural gas
oil
0
1976 1979 1982 1985 1988 1991 1994 1997 2000 2003 2006 2009
Market shares of heating of facilities in 2008
other
1.4 %
heavy
fuel oil
1.5 %
wood
13.5 %
light fuel oil
11.8 %
district
heat
47.4 %
electricity
15.1 %
heat pump
9.3 %
District heat production in 2009
34.6 TWh
cogenerated
heat
71.4 %
separate
heat
28.6 %
bio
price came down by two per cent in 2010
from the previous year, even though the
value-added tax included in the price was
increased in the summer by one percentage
point.
Most common fuel: natural gas
Natural gas is the most common fuel used
in district heating in Finland. Natural gas
accounted for 35 per cent of the fuels used
in district heat production in 2010. In CHP
production plants, some of the gas was
also consumed by electricity generation.
The share of natural gas increased by one
percentage point over the past year.
Coal accounted for 23 per cent of the
district heating fuels in 2010. The use of
coal decreased by more than two percentage
points from the previous year. On the other
hand, the consumption of peat increased to
18 per cent. Biofuels were also used more
than before, but their share remained at 18
per cent in 2010. Oil accounted for 5 per
cent of the fuel portfolio of district heating
in 2010.
District heat production resulted in
carbon dioxide emissions of 7.9 million
tonnes in 2010. This is about 12 per cent
more than a year before. The carbon dioxide
emissions grew due to the cold winter,
when the need for district heating increased
from the normal level. The average carbon
dioxide emission resulting from district heat
production in Finland was 205 grams per
kilowatt hour produced.
Municipal ownership
There are about 150 companies which sell
district heat in Finland. Almost all of these
are in municipal ownership. The length
of the district heating networks owned by
these companies totals 12,550 kilometres.
In 2010, the length of the district heating
networks increased by about 4 per cent,
with 350 kilometres of new network built.
The production capacity of district heat
in Finland is approx. 20,800 megawatts.
The maximum power demand of clients
connected to the district heating networks
is about 17,400 megawatts. zx
10

Kaukaan Voima Oy • 385 MWth Biomass Fired Power Plant
CLEAN AND EFFICIENT.
The power plant decisions we take today will shape
the cost-effectiveness and environmental footprint
of energy generation for decades to come.
By developing energy solutions that use resources
efficiently and intelligently, we can contribute to a
better environment for everyone.
Circulating fluidized bed and bubbling bed boilers • Pulverized coal boilers
• Gasifiers • Heat recovery boilers • Boiler modernizations • Service
www.fwc.com
11

Finnish subsidy
system encourages the use of wood
Bioenergy and CHP
Text by Petri Sallinen
becoming more common
Finland is increasing the use of renewable energy sources. The related capital
investments are accelerated by subsidy packages, some of which are given to
combined heat and power production (CHP). CHP plants which fire biofuels
are an effective way to increase the use of renewable energy sources.
12

Tero Sivula/Dreamstime.com
I
n accordance with the objective set
by the EU, the share of renewable
energy sources in Finland should be
38 per cent of the end use of energy in
2020. This goal is considered as challenging,
and it will not be achieved without
public subsidies.
Being a country with much woodprocessing
industry, Finland has good opportunities
to intensify the use of forest
energy. On the other hand, the structural
change taking place in the wood-processing
industry may undermine the opportunities
to utilise renewable energy sources.
Nevertheless, it is expected that the use of
logging residues and by-products of the
wood-processing industry will increase in
power plants – it is estimated that forestbased
energy sources will account for two
thirds of all renewable energy in the future.
An increase in the energy use of wood
also requires input in the recovery, transport
and storage of the raw materials. An
efficient logistics system must be built for
large power plant units, and the combustion
technology and the technical characteristics
of boilers also need to be honed to
better suit the combustion of wood.
Innovation subsidies to accelerate
product development
Combined heat and power (CHP) production
plants in Finland have conventionally
utilised wood and peat together.
In older power plants, peat is the main
fuel and wood is a supporting fuel. In old
multi-fuel boilers, the share of wood cannot
be more than half. The best wood fuel
for old boilers is clean trunk wood, such
as sawdust or cutter chips. On the other
hand, needles and bark contain impurities,
which cause crust on the inner surfaces
of the boiler. Crusting shortens the
life of boilers and increases the need for
cleaning. However, problems arising from
impurities can be effectively reduced by
burning wood and peat together.
Modern boilers used in CHP plants
have greater resistance to logging residues
which include bark and needles. At the
same time, the share of wood in the fuel
mix can be increased, which means that
less peat needs to be used. The adverse side
effects resulting from the burning of impure
wood material are also fought by developing
the combustion technology and
boiler coatings. The development work for
boilers intended for the burning of wood
has been slow to date, but the obligation
concerning the use of renewables and the
13

challenges of climate policy are expected to
increase the demand for new types of boilers.
This will also speed up related research
and development.
The introduction of new types of
boilers in Finland is promoted by means
of innovation subsidies. An energy company
focusing on new technology may
obtain an innovation subsidy of up to 40
per cent of the capital investments in new
technology at a power plant. The innovation
subsidy facilitates the access of new
technologies to the market and increases
research and development.
There are also financial subsidies for
the increased use of wood in existing CHP
plants which fire peat and wood. However,
this subsidy only applies to electricity
produced from wood, and the amount
of the subsidy is bound to the price of
emission allowances. When the price of
an emission allowance rises to 23 euros
per tonne of carbon dioxide, the subsidy
is no longer paid. If the price of an allowance
goes down to 10 euros, a production
subsidy of 18 euros per megawatt hour is
paid. An expensive emission allowance is
thought to increase the use of wood fuel
even without the subsidy.
Incentives to build
small CHP plants
Small CHP plants are one opportunity
to increase the use of renewable energy
sources in local electricity and heat production.
The use of the energy raw material
is intensified when small CHP plants
replace boilers which only produce district
heat. A number of small CHP plants,
which produce electricity at a power of
3 megawatts and heat at a power of 14
megawatts, have been built in Finland in
recent years.
The specific capital investment costs
of small CHP plants are often high, and
the electricity produced in them is not
competitive in the open electricity market.
This is why small CHP plants which
use renewable energy sources have a tailored
feed-in tariff, i.e. a guaranteed price
system, in Finland. The feed-in tariff is
used to improve the competitiveness of
14
electricity generated in small CHP plants
and to encourage the building of new
small CHP plants. The target level of the
feed-in tariff is 103.5 euros per megawatt
hour. It is expected that the feed-in tariff
system will contribute to the erection of
up to 50 new small-scale CHP plants in
Finland by 2020.
Use of coal down
The target in Finland is to reduce the use
of coal in large CHP plants located on the
coast. In keeping with the model applied
in Continental Europe, this reduction is
to be achieved through incentives such as
investment subsidies and feed-in tariffs.
Investment subsidies support the procurement
of technologies which enable the use
of wood, while feed-in tariffs contribute
to the access of electricity produced from
wood to the market. However, no decisions
concerning support which aims to reduce
the use of coal have been made in Finland
to date.
The wood to be used in large coal
power plants is most likely going to be in
the form of pellets, which could be milled
and then burnt with coal. The energy content
of a tightly compressed pellet is twice
as high as that of chips made from logging
residues.
A small volume and high energy content
are important characteristics when
the goal is to use wood in large-scale power
plants. At best, pellets could account
for about 15 per cent of the fuel used by
large coal power plants. In that case, they
are needed by the ship loads.
As a result of technological advancements,
it is likely that coal can be replaced
with gasified biomass, torrefied wood, or
pyrolysis oil. Torrefaction is a technique
where wood is baked in oxygen-free conditions
at a temperature of 250-270 degrees
centigrade. This treatment removes
water and some of the volatile constituents
from wood. Pyrolysis oil is liquid
wood which is produced from logging
residues and sawdust. The wood is heated
at a temperature of 500-600 degrees centigrade,
whereby it evaporates. When the
vapours cool down, they condense into
pyrolysis oil. With modern technology,
wood can account for up to 50 per cent
of the fuel feed of large coal power plants.
Investment subsidy increases
the use of domestic fuels
For a length of time, Finland has applied
an investment subsidy intended to encourage
the building of power plants which fire
domestic fuels. Domestic fuels here refer to
peat and wood. In climate policy contexts,
peat does not count as a renewable energy
source. Nevertheless, power plants which
fire peat and wood together also increase
the use of wood in energy production. The
investment policy also carries significance
in terms of regional policy.
The investment subsidy is discretionary,
and it may be granted to both large
and small power plants if the project is
found viable. The investment subsidy may
not exceed 20 per cent of the construction
costs of the plant – the investment subsidy
granted is typically 10 per cent.
Wood more efficiently
from the forest
The share of wood in power plants cannot
be raised if the wood cannot be recovered
from forests in a viable manner. A decision
has been made in Finland to support
especially the collection and chipping of
small wood for energy uses. The objective in
Finland is to use 13.5 million cubic metres
of forest converted chips in energy production
in 2020. One third of this would be
small wood, the collection of which calls
for public subsidy.
The new energy subsidy for small
wood is a discretionary subsidy, which
requires that the collected wood is used
for energy production. The subsidy is 10
euros per cubic meter of wood and for no
more than 45 cubic metres per hectare.
The subsidy can be granted for all small
wood except wood that is recovered from
state-owned forests.
The Finnish Parliament has passed
the Government proposal, but the relevant
act has not yet obtained the approval
of the EU Commission. zx

Tougher fuel taxes in Finland
Text by Petri Sallinen
Tax increase punishes
district heating
Energy taxes were increased in
Finland at the beginning of
2011. The taxes of natural gas,
coal, oil and peat, which are
used as fuels in heat production,
were raised from the earlier
level. District heating will be
less competitive when the tax
increases are transferred to the
price of heat.
T
he new Finnish energy tax system
is based on taxing the energy content
of fossil fuels and the carbon
dioxide created in their combustion. The
system is expected to improve the position
of renewable energy sources and also to give
an incentive to energy efficient operation.
However, the Finnish national economy
will have a gap the size of the new energy
taxes – approx. 750 million euros – because
the Finnish company taxes were relieved last
year. The new energy taxes have obvious fiscal
objectives, even though the reform has been
marketed in Finland as a green tax reform.
The taxation of natural gas will increase
more than that of other fuels. However,
natural gas has previously not been taxed
on the basis of its actual carbon content,
because the former policy in Finland was
to favour the use of natural gas. The tax
reform is said to put natural gas, being a
fossil fuel, to its proper place. However,
that statement can be made when only
examining the carbon dioxide emissions
of natural gas. The small sulphur, nitrogen
and particle emissions of natural gas are not
taken into account in its tax treatment. The
tax increases will be implemented gradually
15

over several years so that the users of natural
gas can adapt to the change.
The taxes on coal will also be raised. The
purpose of this is to make sure that the use
of coal is always more expensive than the use
of natural gas. The tax on peat increases on
the same grounds: the objective is to keep
the position of wood favourable with respect
to peat; the mutual proportions of peat and
wood can be controlled within certain limits
in multifuel boilers firing both peat and wood.
Dual control system
Energy production is controlled in two ways
in Finland: by means of the EU’s emissions
trading, and national fuel taxes. Within the
emissions trading scheme, it is necessary to
buy emission allowances if a power plant or
thermal power station uses fuels which cause
carbon dioxide emissions. When the price of
emission allowances rises high enough, the
owner of the power plant or thermal power
station is assumed to change the fuel to a
non-emission fuel.
The taxation of fuels follows the same
principle, but results in a new cost item to
a company producing energy. In accordance
with the principles of the EU’s climate policy,
emissions trading is sufficient to reduce the
emissions. In other words, energy production
is controlled by two parallel means of
control in Finland.
The authors of the tax reform have
acknowledged the existence of the overlapping
means, at least partially. This is why
it was decided to cut the carbon dioxide
tax of CHP plants, which produce both
heat and power, to a half. This is hoped to
overcome the overlapping impact caused by
the two means of control – and to improve
the position of combined heat and power
production. Thermal power plants which
only produce heat pay the full tax.
However, the energy tax directive which
is being updated by the EU Commission
follows a different principle. On the basis
of information which has seeped from
the Commission, the taxation of carbon
dioxide would only be used in the future
for controlling emissions from industries
excluded from emissions trading, but not
in the actual emissions trading sector. In
Finland, all energy production facilities with
the exception of the smallest thermal power
stations are covered by emissions trading.
16
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
160
140
120
100
Taxes on natural gas for businesses, euros/tonne
80
60
40
20
0
13.7
11.5
9.36
6.72
9.02
6.60
5.50
4.42
4.14
4.00
3.59
2.77
2.52
2.10
1.87
1.32
1.23
1.19
1.12
0.786
0.614
0.540
0.327
Finland 2015
Finland 2013
Malta
Finland 2011
Switzerland
Austria
Germany
Slovenia
Spain
Netherlands
Sweden
Ireland
Estonia
Finland 2010
Italy
Slovakia
Czech Republic
France
Hungary
Japan
Romania
EU minimum
Belgium
Norway
Denmark
US
UK
Portugal
Poland
Lithuania
Latvia
Greece
Bulgaria
Taxes on coal for businesses, euros/tonne
128.1
73.0
62.5
50.5
50.0
41.7
32.5
13.2
10.6
9.84
8.57
8.47
8.43
8.41
8.12
7.55
7.38
7.38
7.38
6.53
4.60
4.18
4.16
3.77
3.69
0.54
0.54
Finland 2011
Switzerland
Norway
Finland 2010
Austria
Sweden
Slovenia
Netherlands
Slovakia
Belgium
France
Latvia
Hungary
Czech Republic
Germany
Bulgaria
Estonia
Malta
Greece
Japan
Italy
Ireland
Portugal
Lithuania
EU minimum
Romania
Spain
Denmark
US
Poland
UK
Finland has decided to fight climate
change by investing in renewable energy
sources and in combined heat and power
production. The new Finnish energy tax
principles, however, will weaken the position
of district heating. When taxation raises
the price of district heating, it has a poorer
competitiveness in the heating market. As
a result, methods of heating which have
previously been regarded as expensive, such
as geothermal energy, are surprisingly competitive
in comparison to district heating.
Finnish energy taxes
among the highest in Europe
After the energy tax reform, Finland applies
very heavy taxes to energy production. In
2010, the tax on natural gas in Finland was
2.1 euros per tonne, while this year the tax
is 9.02 euros per tonne, and 13.7 euros per
tonne in 2015, when the tax will achieve
its final level.
Finland will be the European leader in
the taxation of natural gas in 2015. By that
Companies within EU emissions trading.
0
0
0
0
Companies within EU emissions trading.
time, the second place will be held by Malta,
whose tax on natural gas will be 9.36 euros
per tonne if the country does not raise the
taxes in the coming years. However, CHP
plants in Finland only pay half of the above
tax, but plants which only produce heat
pay the full tax for their use of natural gas.
The 50 per cent tax relief given to CHP
plants will improve the position of Finland
in the European energy tax comparison.
After the tax relief, Finnish CHP plants pay
6.1 euros per natural gas tonne in energy tax,
with only Austria (6.6 euros) and Denmark
(29.7 euros) applying higher taxes.
The tax of 128.1 euros per tonne levied
by Finland per coal tonne gives Finland the
number one position in the tax on coal –
Switzerland in the second place levies 73
euros per coal tonne in tax. The relief granted
to CHP plants changes the position of
Finland: the second place comes with a tax
of 91.9 euros per tonne of coal. Denmark
in the first place collects 240 euros per coal
tonne in tax. zx
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0

Text by Markku Niskanen
Low2No
Low-carbon block to Helsinki
A long leap towards sustainable
urban development is being
taken in the Jätkäsaari area in
Helsinki. The construction of a
low-carbon block is expected to
start at the end of this year. The
block will rise in a prominent
vantage point.
T
he objective is to proceed in stages.
The initial goal at this stage is a community
which produces a minimum
of carbon and uses a minimum of energy.
“The objective is to evolve the Low2No
approach on a long-term basis so that we
advance project by project towards the ultimate
goal, carbon-neutral urban housing.”
Jukka Noponen, who heads the Energy
Programme of Sitra, the Finnish Innovation
Fund, points out that the goal is not to carry
out all the solutions in one go.
Sitra is a key driving force of the Low2No
project, and it also intends to move its own
office to Jätkäsaari, which used to house a
container port. Experiences and references
in other countries have been studied within
the project. Jukka Noponen expects that the
Low2No approach will attract businesses
which cherish their image and inhabitants
who are willing to change their way of life.
One key objective is to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions in all building, property
maintenance, housing, and working. The
aspiration of social, economic and ecological
sustainability is well suited to Sitra’s
philosophy and mission.
“Finland can grow and develop and
the welfare of Finns can improve by reducing
the carbon footprint. The change will
also create new business and enhance the
17

People must also change
their behaviour
competitiveness of Finland. Since this is
a worldwide trend, there is demand for
advanced expertise. Finland cannot afford
to stay outside these developments,” Jukka
Noponen emphasises.
18
At a vantage point
The compact block to be built in the former
container port, only a few kilometres from
the heart of Helsinki, will be a smaller unit
than in other similar international projects,
which is an advantage.
“You can get there by rail. A tramline
network has been designed for the area,
and there is already a metro station only
a few hundred meters away. On top of
everything else, the low-energy buildings
will be erected at a vantage point. Passenger
and cruise ships are moored to the adjacent
quay,” Jukka Noponen says.
Sitra and the City of Helsinki together
organised an international competition for
sustainable construction, with 75 designer
groups from around the world participating
in the competition.
“The broad interest enjoyed by the
competition indicates how topical sustainability
is. Five teams were selected for the
final open competition. These exchanged
experiences with each other and with the
organisers of the competition. The winning
team was one where the leading consultant
is the British company Arup, the architect
is Sauerbruch Hutton of Berlin, and the
Italian company Experientia is specialised
in life style changes.”
Jukka Noponen says that the Finnish
design offices SARC, Vahanen and Granlund
are also involved in project implementation.
He thinks that in the areas close to
Finland, there are plenty of places where
the energy expertise suited to the northern
conditions and the Low2No approach can
be applied.
“The goal is to implement a block containing
residential, commercial and office
facilities so that the principles of sustainable
development are utilised comprehensively.
The relevant architecture, construction, building
technology and energy technology must
also be integrated right from the beginning.”
New patterns
Improving the energy efficiency of the constructed
environment and a reduction in
the emissions are in a key role, but they
are not the only elements contributing to
sustainable development.
“While the quality and conditions of
housing and living are being improved, there
is also an objective to curb the costs. The
homes must be sold and the office space
must be leased.”
Jukka Noponen points out that a reduction
in the energy use of construction
and of electricity and heat production is
not sufficient.
“People must also change their behaviour,
because they have a crucial role in intensifying
energy use. This can be achieved when the
systems drive people towards a new way of
life and when the residents can affect their
energy use and emissions on a real-time basis.”
The Finnish pilot project in Helsinki will
encompass the building of a total of 22,000
floor square meters of apartments, offices and
shops between 2012 and 2013. The apartments
are both owned and rented apartments.
Sitra will build itself an office building, whose
facilities it will offer to others, too.
“Moreover, the block is designed to
contain commercial and service facilities
as well as a common sauna and ecological
laundry, among other things. The residents
also have a common space: a combination
of a block house and greenhouse, where
the residents can grow vegetables,” Jukka
Noponen describes the emerging new type
of social surroundings.
Goal: houses with zero
energy consumption
“The objective of the Low2No project is
to achieve buildings with almost zero energy
level. In this respect the project is a
trailblazer. Jätkäsaari will be built as close
as possible to the requirements of the EU’s
new energy efficiency directive due to come
into force in 2021. At the same time we will
accumulate knowledge of the costs of zeroenergy
houses in the Finnish conditions and
of how energy-efficient a building can be.”
Jukka Noponen says that the consumption
target is 100 kilowatt hours of primary
energy per square meter using the 2012
calculation method, when also including
the electricity used by the building. The
energy solutions also involve solar energy
and passive drill holes alongside district
heating.
Jukka Noponen emphasises that no
investment decision has been made yet.
The building permits will be applied for
this summer, and the foundation work is
expected to start at the end of 2011. Since
the building materials are selected on the
basis of the carbon emissions, Sitra’s office
building will favour timber as a material.
Coal-free district heating and
renewable electricity
Helsinki Energy has a clear vision of the
energy solutions to be used in the new
Jätkäsaari area.
“First of all, district heating will replace
electricity in as many ways as possible.
Secondly, district heating will be supplied
to all possible applications. It will naturally
heat dwellings by means of radiators, and all
the necessary hot service water. In addition,
district heating will also heat bathroom
floors and the cool inlet air taken through
the heat recovery system. In the heart of
Helsinki, ​district heating is also used to fight
slippery outdoor surfaces and ice formation.”
Marko Riipinen, who heads the district
heating business of Helsinki Energy, points
out that the consumption of primary energy
in a building heated with district heating
is much smaller than in building-specific
heating solutions.
The primary energy coefficient calculated
on the basis of the production make-up
of district heat in Helsinki is very low, only
about 0.35.
Marko Riipinen also emphasises that
district heat is supplied without interruption
throughout the year. The cooling of
the buildings to be built in Jätkäsaari will
also be arranged in an environmentally
efficient manner.
“All of the excess heat created in our
client buildings will be transferred to the
district heating network using the district
cooling system. Cooling is produced by
means of free cooling whenever the sea
water is sufficiently cold. In the summer,
heat is produced by cogeneration heat and
by using heat pumps,” says Marko Riipinen.

Towards carbon-neutral
production
Approximately 35 per cent of the annual
need for district heat in Helsinki is produced
from coal. Coal is used in the coldest
period, in about four winter months
every year. The development path drawn
up by Helsinki Energy suggests that its
own energy production will be completely
CO 2
neutral in 2050. In the coming years,
the use of renewable biomass fuels will be
increased in all existing coal power plants,
with these fuels to be used alongside coal.
“Within the Low2No project, we are
jointly developing a district heating product
suitable to the model applied. The heat
used in the Jätkäsaari area is produced by
the most fuel efficient CHP plants in the
world and by heat pumps which use waste
water and return water in the district heating
network as their heat sources. The fuels used
are renewable fuels, with coal replaced with
renewable biofuels,” Marko Riipinen says.
As far as electricity is concerned, the
carbon-free requirement is fulfilled more
easily, because Helsinki Energy can sell its
customers wind electricity or hydropower
electricity procured from the electricity
exchange. Helsinki Energy also has its own
hydroelectric production capacity, and it
is a co-owner in wind energy companies.
Marko Riipinen says that coal-free district
heat and electricity cost a little more than
energy generated from fossil fuels.
How will Helsinki have sufficient renewable
energy? Marko Riipinen knows
that this question puzzles people on a general
level both elsewhere in Finland and in
the neighbouring countries, because power
plants which are located on the coast and
which now fire coal can be supplied with
renewable fuels over long distances. It is
expected that competition over forest-based
fuels in Finland is going to become tougher
and the prices will rise, because large towns
increase the demand significantly.
“It is also possible to produce biogas
close to the existing natural gas network
and to transmit biogas to Helsinki using
the natural gas pipeline. It is a considerable
logistics challenge to bring pellets let alone
wood chips into Helsinki,” says Marko
Riipinen on the outlook for fuel supply. zx
Combined heat and power
production for over 50 years
H
elsinki can be regarded as a pioneer in
combined heat and power production,
district heating and district cooling. Heat
and electricity generation in the same power
plant began in the capital of Finland on the
south coast over 50 years ago. The market
share of district heating of the entire heating
demand in Helsinki is more than 90 per
cent. Moreover, the rapidly expanding ecoefficient
district cooling system in Helsinki
is the third largest cooling system in Europe.
The bulk of the district heat is produced
by four large CHP plants, two of which
use coal and the other two natural gas as
their main fuel.
“More than 90 per cent of the district
heat is produced by cogeneration. Combined
heat and power production is efficient, because
the efficiency of natural gas is 95 per
cent and that of coal 86 per cent. Approximately
60 per cent of the annual production
of district heat is based on natural gas. The
coal used by Helsinki Energy is hard black
coal, which is incinerated at a high efficiency
in cogeneration and whose flue gases are
cleaned using the best available technology,”
says Marko Riipinen, head of the district
heating business of Helsinki Energy.
“We have learned to develop well-functioning
systems with high efficiency for the
Finnish conditions, utilising imported fuels.
There are several factors which reflect the
high quality of the district heating network
and its successful maintenance: only a small
amount of water needs to be added to the
system annually, there are only a few leaks
in the district heating network, and the
annual thermal losses in the network are
very small, only 6 per cent.”
Over 14,000 customers
In 2010, Helsinki Energy acquired 7,850
gigawatt hours of district heat and roughly
the same volume of electricity, of which
73 per cent was produced in Helsinki.
The record-high heat demand was mainly
due to the weather; 2010 was 10 per cent
colder than an average year. Moreover, a
new production record of district heat in
Helsinki, 2,600 megawatts, was attained in
“Combined heat and power production is
efficient. The efficiency of natural gas is 95
per cent and the efficiency of coal 86 per
cent,” says Marko Riipinen, head of the
district heating business of Helsinki Energy.
January 2011. At minimum, in warm summer
days, district heat is only produced at
a power of a couple of hundred megawatts.
The biggest district heating company in
Finland has more than 14,000 customers
along its 1,250-kilometer-long network.
If need be, reserve power plants are
commissioned after the starting of the CHP
plants, and energy contained in heat accumulators
is exploited. Helsinki Energy
has several water reservoirs of 10,000 cubic
metres, with the energy stored in these
utilised during peak consumption. Heat is
also recovered from the waste water treated
at the effluent treatment plant. In fact,
Helsinki has the world’s largest heat pump
plant which exploits the heat of waste water.
Helsinki produces some of its electricity
in hydropower plants located elsewhere in
Finland, and partly by means of wind power.
Moreover, being a shareholder in a nuclear
power company, it obtains nuclear energy.
“Helsinki Energy produces so much
electricity itself in Helsinki that the production
would suffice the needs of two cities the
size of Helsinki,” Marko Riipinen says. zx
19

Helsinki Energy:
Text and photograph by Tero Tuisku
strength in innovative methods
of heat and cooling production
Helsinki Energy relies on the efficiency of CHP, also known
as cogeneration. At present, CHP accounts for more than
90 per cent of the company’s total district heat production.
20

energy efficiency in CHP
is over 90 per cent, while
“The
in conventional condensing
power production the efficiency typically
remains at approximately 40 per cent,” says
Marko Riipinen, who heads the district
heating business of Helsinki Energy.
The main fuels in the company’s power
plants are natural gas (60 per cent) and coal
(35 per cent). Marko Riipinen points out
that the use of coal at a fuel efficiency of
86 per cent in CHP plants is also ecologically
efficient. According to him, CHP is
“We are not confined to combined
heat and power production, but
we also integrate district cooling to
the service offering. This is why we
prefer to talk about the three lines of
production,” says Marko Riipinen,
who heads the district heating
business of Helsinki Energy.
well justified and rational whenever there is
sensible use for the heat, either in a district
heating network or in an industrial process,
for example.
“Helsinki is the coldest capital in Europe,
so there is an obvious need for heating
in the winter. District heat is also used in
Finland for producing hot service water; it
accounts for about 30 per cent of the total
sales of district heat. The need for heat is the
smallest in warm summer days, when this
need is approx. 200 megawatts.” The volume
of district heat produced by Helsinki Energy
varies from one year to another, primarily as
determined by weather. In 2010, Helsinki
Energy produced 7,850 gigawatt hours of
district heat, which is a new record.
Advantage: comprehensive
district heating network
The City of Helsinki has a very comprehensive
district heating network. The heating
network of approximately 1,250 kilometres
has contributed to the possibility to connect
the best available production methods
located in different parts of Helsinki to the
system. One example is the Katri Vala heat
pump plant, which utilises purified warm
waste water in energy production. Previously,
this water was discharged into the sea.
“The first calculations of whether or
not it is profitable to build a heat pump
plant that exploits waste water in energy
production were made in Helsinki in the
early 1970s. It was concluded then and over
the following decades that a heat pump
plant would be unprofitable. However,
the situation changed in early 2000s, when
we set out to develop a new business area
of ​district cooling. The new calculations
indicated that a heat pump plant would
actually be viable. After all, the same heat
pump plant can also produce district cooling
using versatile production alternatives.”
The Katri Vala heat pump plant was
completed in 2006. Since then, its five units
have produced district heat at a total power
of 90 megawatts. Similarly, district cooling
can be produced at a power of 60 megawatts.
“To our knowledge, we have the world’s
largest heat pump plant which uses the heat
of purified waste water as the heat source
and which produces both district heat and
district cooling. The overall package has
worked very well in every respect in the past
five years,” says Marko Riipinen.
Cutting edge expertise
According to Marko Riipinen, Helsinki
Energy’s district cooling expertise represents
the cutting edge in the world.
“Helsinki Energy integrates the production
and use of district heating and district
cooling in a unique manner. The need for
cooling has increased rapidly in Helsinki in
recent years. It is supplied to office buildings,
shopping malls, computer rooms and even
some apartment buildings. As an example,
computer rooms create much waste heat in
all seasons of the year, and cooling is needed.
This is why district cooling is produced in
the winter by means of free cooling from
the cold sea water, and in the summer by
means of absorption refrigerating machines
and heat pumps. In absorption, the energy is
derived from the heat obtained from CHP.
In the heat pump arrangement, the excess
heat collected from the cooling customers
is recovered and used in district heating.”
“The waste heat recovered by cooling is
utilised eco-efficiently whenever possible.”
In the winter, for about six months
annually, all district cooling produced by
Helsinki Energy is obtained from the sea.
According to Marko Riipinen, the sea provides
efficient and inexpensive cooling in
an environmentally benign manner. The
winter period accounts for as much as one
third of the annual sales of district cooling
by Helsinki Energy.
Marko Riipinen points out that a
traditional refrigeration machine using a
compressor does not represent modern
technology in areas provided with district
cooling.
“Compressor production uses much
electricity, requires frequent maintenance,
uses refrigerants, and is noisy. This is not
at all smart in terms of the environment,”
Marko Riipinen stresses. zx
21

Text by Markku Niskanen
The smallest CHP plant in Finland
works successfully
The energy company of the Town of Lapua situated in Western Finland
decided to take on a new course a few years back. Lapuan Energia Oy,
which used to produce only district heat, decided to invest in a combined
power and heat (CHP) plant. The smallest cogeneration plant in Finland
has proved to be a viable solution.
22

Lapuan Energia Oy’s power plant is located
close to the centre of Lapua. The old peat
boiler is shown on the left and the new
CHP plant on the right.
M
anaging Director Ilkka Järvinen
admits that Lapuan Energia
has worked boldly, as plants
of this size category have not been built
in Finland for nearly two decades. Lapua
opened the way to others, because similar
CHP plants have now been built elsewhere
in Finland in Kemijärvi, Keuruu and Nivala.
“The demand for district heating and
the positive outlook for the Town of Lapua
affected our investment plans. It was also important
to ascertain in advance what kinds
of subsidies are available to the construction
and production of a back-pressure power
plant which uses domestic fuel.”
Since 2008, buildings in Lapua have
primarily been heated by the new power
plant which also produces electricity.
“This investment was considered carefully,
and it can be regarded as a success. An
increase in the sales of district heat and the
decision to also start producing electricity
raised the net sales of Lapuan Energia last
year by 23 per cent as compared to 2009,”
Ilkka Järvinen says.
“On the basis of three years of experience
we can conclude that the plant will
pay itself with the present price ratios of
district heat and electricity in about 15 years,
as planned. This requires that there are no
unexpected expenditure items, such as major
equipment failures,” Ilkka Järvinen says.
Lapuan Energia’s CHP plant cost just
over 16 million euros, with a government
subsidy obtained for nearly one quarter
of this.
“A mere thermal power plant would
have cost a quarter less. However, I feel
that there would not have been any point
23

Lapuan Energia Oy’s Managing Director
Ilkka Järvinen is satisfied: the power plant,
which produces heat and electricity from
domestic fuels, works as expected.
to construct a plant which only produces
heat in a town of this size.”
Ilkka Järvinen emphasises that district
heating represents local business while the
sale of electricity also brings income from
beyond the town. Electricity income accounts
for about one fifth of the net sales
of Lapuan Energia.
Local expertise
In addition to the fact that energy is produced
in Lapua from local fuels, the new
power plant features a wealth of local expertise.
“The boiler was mainly manufactured in
local engineering works in Lapua. Other devices
were also found nearby. The conveyors
were procured from Kauhajoki located some
80 kilometres away, and the ash handling
system was purchased from Lehtimäki which
lies 70 kilometres from Lapua. Of the main
components, only the turbine, generator and
electrostatic precipitator were made outside
Finland,” Ilkka Järvinen says.
The construction and commissioning
of the CHP plant were more challenging
than expected. These issues kept the small
organisation busy.
“The requirements imposed on the
operating personnel are now substantially
stricter than before. Previously, our only
product was hot water, which was supplied
directly to the district heating network. Now
the product is superheated steam, which
is first led to the generator which drives
the turbine and further to the district heat
exchanger,” Ilkka Järvinen states.
24
Peat boiler in reserve
The distribution of district heat started
in Lapua in 1979, provided by a thermal
power station of 11 megawatts, which fired
heavy fuel. A thermal power station of 7
megawatts, using peat as its main fuel, was
commissioned in 1981. Lapuan Energia
also used to acquire thermal energy from a
local sawmill (up to 33 GWh/a). This was
produced from the by-products of the sawing
process: bark, sawdust and wood chips.
The 30-year-old peat boiler is now in
reserve, and it is used during peak consumption
periods and when the new power plant
is being maintained. Moreover, there a few
oil-fired boiler plants in different parts of the
town to secure the supply of district heat.

500 district heating customers
The net sales of Lapuan Energia, which is
fully owned by the Town of Lapua, were
4.3 million euros in 2010, and the number
of personnel was 11. The company sold
almost 70 gigawatt hours of district heat
and 12 gigawatts hours of electricity. The
approximately 56 kilometres long district
heating network conveys heat to 500 customers,
half of which are blocks of flats and
single-family houses. However, a relatively
larger portion of the district heat is supplied
to public facilities – such as schools and the
local hospital – and businesses. Lapua has
14,450 inhabitants, over half of whom live
in the centre of the town. The vitality of
the area is evidenced by the fact that the
population has continued to grow over
several years.
Oil changed to district heating
The sales of district heat by Lapuan Energia
grew by 15 per cent in 2010.
“Some of the sales increase came from
the cold weather last year, but of course
the competitive district heat still sells well
anyway,” Ilkka Järvinen says.
The market share of district heat in
the centre of Lapua is already almost 80
per cent. In all, Lapuan Energia’s district
heating customers have about 2 million
cubic metres of heated space.
Lapuan Energia, which has not paid
dividends to its owner, has been able to
keep the price of district heat at a reasonable
level. It is slightly below average in the price
statistics kept by Finnish Energy Industries.
“Many residential buildings that were
previously heated by oil have become users
of district heat. Some areas with singlefamily
houses, built in recent years, have
also been connected to the district heating
network.”
Ilkka Järvinen says that geothermal
energy is the second main heating option
for builders.
Fuel from the surrounding area
The Lapua CHP plant obtains 96 per cent
of its fuel from the surrounding area. The
power plant still uses twice as much peat as
wood chips, but the share of wood chips is
being raised systematically. The goal is half
peat and half wood. The power plant uses
Finnish expertise building CHP plants
Increased use of biofuels in energy production
has brought more orders to suppliers of
equipment in the industry. The Nordic market
leader MW Power exports Finnish know-how
employed in small and medium-sized power
plants also to other European countries.
“The EU’s objectives to increase the
use of renewable energy sources are boosting
the market.”
MW Power’s Product Line Director
Olli Elo says that new power plants are
constructed again after the recession caused
by the financial crisis.
“MW Power is currently involved in the
construction of the new 43 megawatt CHP
approx. 100 gigawatt hours worth of fuel
per year. About 4 per cent of this is oil, and
there is also some reed canary grass. In cold
winter days, at least five trucks arrive at the
power plant daily, each carrying some 130
cubic metres of peat or wood chips.
“Basically, the power plant would only
need to use wood chips as the fuel. However,
since the calorific value of peat is better than
that of wood, it would be good if at least 20
to 30 per cent of the fuel input in a fluidised
bed boiler is peat. This prevents the fouling
of the boiler,” Ilkka Järvinen says.
Feed-in tariff does not help
Ilkka Järvinen expects that the EU will soon
accept the measures carried out in Finland
last year to promote the use of renewable
energy. He also expects that the subsidy
given to wood chips derived from forests
will improve profitability.
“It is just that the fixed subsidy should
be higher than the subsidy paid earlier.
On the other hand, the feed-in tariff for
electricity, which is included in the energy
package accepted by the Finnish Parliament,
seems difficult in practice. It contains so
many variables that its utilisation by a small
power producer such as we is complex and
difficult.”
He refers to the experiences of a small
organisation of the verification and obligations
of emissions trading. He thinks that
the feed-in tariff will mean even more work
to the personnel of the energy company
than what emissions trading does.
plant in Porvoo in Finland, using renewable
fuel. We are supplying the boiler section of
the plant for Porvoon Energia Oy.”
The Multipower product line headed by
Olli Elo also designs and builds tailor-made
power plant solutions on a turnkey basis.
MW Power is owned by Metso Power
(60%) and Wärtsilä (40%). It accumulated
net sales of more than 100 million euros in
2010. MW Power has ongoing power plant
projects in Belgium, Estonia and Latvia,
too. The company has also contributed to
biomass power plants built in recent years
in Finland (Keuruu), Germany and Sweden.
Great variations
Ilkka Järvinen does not consider that Lapuan
Energia could increase its electricity generation
capacity significantly.
“This would absolutely require an increase
in the sales of heat, which would mean
that we should have a new major client, an
industrial plant which uses much process
heat. There is nothing like that in sight.”
He points out that the demand for
district heat varies considerably from one
season of the year to another.
“In the summer, district heating customers
only need about one tenth of the
peak consumption of the year. Since the
heat has no other uses apart from heating
buildings, an auxiliary cooler is needed at
small loads.”
It must be noted that a CHP plant
produces most electricity in the winter
when the district heating load is also the
greatest and when there is much demand
for electricity.
In the name of climate emissions, district
heating has been imposed cost-raising
elements such as emissions trading and the
energy tax of peat. Ilkka Järvinen says that
you just have to cope with these.
“One cause for concern is the fact that
there are less and less practical uses for the
ash created in incineration. At least it can
be used to some extent as a forest fertiliser
and in earth construction. There is no point
in taking it to the landfill.” zx
25

Fortum and Elisa working together:
Text by Tero Tuisku
Heat recovered from a
computer room within rock
In a joint project between Fortum and Elisa, the waste heat created by
computer room equipment is utilised in Espoo’s CHP district heating
network. Fortum also provides the computer room with uninterrupted
electricity supply in a new way.
B
oth the energy company Fortum
and the communications service
provider Elisa want to be pioneers
in reducing emissions and utilising renewable
energy sources. The companies endeavour to
find various solutions which serve these goals.
The two companies worked together
to devise a solution where heat created in
Elisa’s computer room is cooled by heat
pumps, and the heat recovered is supplied
to the district heating network of the City
of Espoo.
The power of the hardware used in the
computer room quarried within bedrock has
grown constantly. Since the introduction of
the computer facility in 2002, the powers
have risen more than six-fold. The amount
of waste heat generated by the hardware
has grown at the same time. Previously,
the waste heat was led to outdoor air, but
now it is recovered for the district heating
network of Espoo.
“We have jointly developed an energy
solution which fulfils the quality specifications
required from modern computer
rooms. We believe that energy recycling will
become a dominant trend in the industry,”
says B2B Account Manager Esa Mörsky
of Fortum.
26
Elisa´s computer room.
Sensitive equipment
The equipment in the computer room is
very sensitive to disturbances in electricity

Espoo CHP Power Plant
Computer room
District heating network
Espoo heat pump + CPS unit
In Fortum’s and Elisa’s solution, the computer room is connected to the cooling plant by means water flow. The
cooling plant produces energy for the district heating network. A heat pump plant cools Elisa’s data communications
equipment.
distribution. Interruptions in electricity
supply are very rare occurrences in Espoo.
Short interruptions of about 20 milliseconds
result from relay connections in the
network, and they are common even in
good distribution networks.
“Home computers are not disturbed by
such short interruptions, but they have an
adverse effect on sensitive data communications
equipment,” says Project Manager
Erkki Mikkola of Elisa.
Continuous uninterrupted supply of
electricity for the computer room has been
arranged by a new solution. The room
no longer utilises the conventional UPS
(Uninterruptible Power Supply) devices
based on batteries. Instead, there is a CPS
(Continuous Power System), which allows
the computer room to be provided with
uninterrupted electricity 24 hours a day 7
days a week. The CPS system consists of a
kinetic energy storage and a diesel generator
which can be started quickly.
“The traditional UPS system needs
large, bulky batteries. In addition, the batteries
require constant maintenance, they
have to be completely renewed at least every
5 to 10 years, and their efficiency is not
that good,” says Fortum’s Project Manager
Pertti Strömmer.
CPS is something different.
“This solution comprises a diesel engine
and a rotating flywheel, which ensure fully
uninterrupted electricity supply to the computer
room. The cooling of the computer
room is arranged by means of heat pumps,
which secure continuous supply of cooling
air into the room throughout the year,”
Pertti Strömmer says.
Confidence in flywheel
and diesel engine
Under normal circumstances, the computer
room receives electricity from the ordinary
power distribution network. If electricity
distribution is interrupted for some reason,
the mass provided by the flywheel supplies
energy for as long as it takes for the diesel
engine to start generating electricity. The
solution makes preparations for an electricity
supply interruption of up to ten days, which
will probably never happen in Finland. If
the interruption lasts longer, there is time
to refuel the diesel engine.
The computer room uses a water cooling
system. Esa Mörsky says that the heatgenerating
data communications hardware
is located inside water-cooled cabinets.
The computer room is supplied with cooling
water of 7 degrees Celsius, which is
returned to the district heating network
at a temperature of 14 degrees. The heat
volume generated by the computer room
is 30 gigawatt hours.
“This is equivalent to the annual consumption
of 1,500 single-family houses
provided with district heating,” Esa Mörsky
says.
The cooling which Fortum supplies to
Elisa’s computer room is so-called district
cooling. However, it is tailored to Elisa’s
needs, and there is not yet overall district
cooling in Espoo like there is in the neighbouring
Helsinki. zx
27

Solar district heat
studied in Porvoo
Text by Tero Tuisku
The eco-efficient residential area of Skaftkärr, which is being
built in Porvoo in Southern Finland, is a testing ground for new
methods of energy production. Particular attention is paid to the
possibility to use solar energy in district heat production.
T
he City of Porvoo, Sitra (Finnish
Innovation Fund) and Porvoon
Energia, the local energy company,
have launched the building of the new ecoefficient
residential area of Skaftkärr. This
area of approx. 400 hectares, or 4 square
kilometres, will house about 2,000 dwellings
and 6,000 inhabitants. Most of the
buildings will be single-family houses, but
there will also be some apartment buildings.
All houses in the area will be provided
with district heating.
“Our district heating has a positive
environmental aspect, since we use mostly
wood chips as the fuel, and some natural
gas during the coldest periods. However,
we aim to experiment with the use of solar
energy in district heat production and to
abandon the use of imported and expensive
natural gas altogether,” says Development
Engineer Mikko Ruotsalainen of Porvoon
Energia.
The use of solar district heat has
been studied comprehensively within the
Skaftkärr project. For example, the Aalto
University School of Science and Technology
is examining the entire energy system
in Porvoo so that alongside solar energy,
various energy and material flows will also
be studied.
“We have already conducted a more
specific review of solar district heating. A
preliminary study of solar district heating
was completed in late 2010, and at
least so far there is nothing to prevent the
introduction of solar district heating. A
28

Mikko Ruotsalainen of Porvoon Energia says that there is sufficient solar energy
available at the Porvoo latitude from the early April to the end of September, in other
words for six months.
more thorough analysis of solar district
heating will be launched this spring,”
Mikko Ruotsalainen says.
Challenging solar energy
The utilisation of solar energy in the
region of Porvoo located in Southern Finland
is a challenge. The disadvantages are
the cold and darkness of winter. However,
according to Mikko Ruotsalainen, one
half of the year is suited to solar energy
production at the Porvoo latitude.
“We have calculated that there is
sufficient solar energy available from the
beginning of April until the end of September.
We have compared the flat-plate
collector and evacuated tube collector as
alternative technologies. The problem
with the flat-plate collector is that, despite
sunshine, the efficiency may remain poor
in cold weather. The evacuated tube collector
works better in this respect. On
the other hand, evacuated tube collectors
are substantially more expensive and, as
a whole, they are slightly less suited to
the northern conditions than flat-plate
collectors. This is why we will probably
opt for flat-plate collectors.”
Mikko Ruotsalainen says that flatplate
collectors keep evolving constantly.
“They operate reliably in sunny
weather even before April. Overall, the
power of the sun can heat district heating
water to a temperature of 65 to 80
degrees Celsius from April to September.”
Plans for solar heating plant
The Skaftkärr project involves plans for
a new heating plant powered by solar
energy. The final capital investment decision
will probably be made in 2012.
“The planned solar heating plant
does not necessarily have to be located in
the new residential area. In addition, the
heat generated by it is not only intended
for the needs of the Skaftkärr residential
area, but the heat is supplied to the rest
of the district heating network of Porvoon
Energia.
The positive environmental considerations
also extend to the transport
arrangements in Skaftkärr. As an example,
Ensto Oy, a local company, is developing
charging pole technology for electric cars.
The batteries of electric cars and electric
bicycles are also subject to research and
development. Furthermore, the area will
have plenty of pedestrian and bicycle ways
in order to reduce transport emissions
even further.” zx
Savings
through new
technology
T
he
objective is that the houses in
Skaftkärr will be built with solutions
that promote energy conservation.
“In addition to district heating supplied
to all buildings, new technology will be applied
to contribute to energy conservation.
Automatic electricity meter reading gives an
opportunity to provide the residents with
real-time information on their electricity
consumption. Moreover, there are already
electricity products available in Finland
where changes in the price of wholesale
electricity influence the electricity prices of
households on an hourly basis. This encourages
households to reduce their electricity
usage when the price is highest. At the
same time, it is one of the preconditions of
achieving demand response in the household
sector,” says Mikko Ruotsalainen.
One of the other issues studied is the
possibility to store heat.
“For example, in Denmark they are
using heat accumulators, where the excess
hot water can be stored for future use. The
accumulator can be either a pool or a tank.”
A new type of an energy town plan
was applied in the Skaftkärr residential
area instead of the conventional town plan.
The energy town plan emphasizes, among
other things, that buildings should be built
as close to each other as possible. The residential
density of 1,500 inhabitants per
square kilometre in the area is high on the
Porvoo scale.
“The high residential density has a
positive impact on the fact that the district
heating network connected to each house
can be built in a cost-effective manner,” says
Mikko Ruotsalainen. zx
29

Flue gas scrubber
cleans and heats
Text by Tero Tuisku
Flue gas scrubbers have a focal role in Finnish boiler plants, especially
ones firing peat and biomass. The scrubber not only cleans the flue gases,
but it can also transfer thermal energy contained in the flue gases for
example to district heating water.
F
lue gas scrubbers or flue gas condensers
are used in many heating
plants in Finland and other Nordic
countries. This is not surprising, because the
heat recovered from the flue gases by condensation
is very useful in cold conditions.
“Environmentally-friendly district heating
is common in the Nordic countries. The
condenser in the flue gas scrubber enables the
recovery of the thermal energy contained in
the flue gases. This energy can then be transferred
to district heating water. The efficiency
of a thermal power station is consequently
improved even further,” says Senior Advisor
Harri Räsänen of Pöyry Finland Oy.
According to Harri Räsänen, a flue gas
condenser is also suited to the cleaning of
flue gases, because the washing zone in the
condenser can effectively reduce the dust
emissions from the boiler and separate other
impurities contained in the flue gases.
He points out that flue gas condensers
are used in Finland especially in power
plants based on fixed bed or fluidising bed
technology and using biomass or peat as
their fuel. Peat and especially biomass often
contain much moisture, which is why a lot of
energy can be recovered from the flue gases.
As an additional device
with a filter or precipitator
Previously, flue gases were usually cleaned
in plants firing biomass or peat by means
of electrostatic precipitators or baghouse
filters only. These are effective cleaners, but
they still release some small particles to the
surrounding air.
“Now that flue gas scrubbers are used,
the emissions of even the smallest particles
can be reduced by means of water in the
scrubber. The flue gas scrubber also reduces
acid gases in the flue gas, such as sulphur
compounds, chlorides and heavy metals,”
Harri Räsänen says.
If there is no district heating network
close to the power plant, the hot water
produced by the scrubber can be supplied
for use by an industrial process, for example.
Flue gas scrubbers and condensers
are used in Finland mainly in connection
with fluidised bubbling bed boilers. Finnish
manufacturers of fluidised bubbling
bed boilers include Foster Wheeler, Metso
Power, Andritz, Renewa and Vapor. zx
Senior Advisor Harri Räsänen of Pöyry Finland
Oy says that in addition to the cleaning
of flue gases, a flue gas condenser also
possesses other advantages: as an example, it
improves the overall efficiency of the plant.
Flue gas
30
DH-water out
DH-water in
ID fan
NaOH
ESP / Baghouse filter
Droplet
separator
Condenser
By-pass
Stack
Condensate
treatment
In an indirect connection, also known as a pipe condenser, the flue
gases flow inside the pipes and district heating water flows on the
jacket side of the condenser.
Flue gas
ID fan
ESP / Baghouse filter
Stack
Droplet
separator
Condenser
DH-water in
DH-water out
NaOH
Condensate
treatment
In a direct connection, the wash water which has heated up in the washing
stage is pumped to a separate plate heat exchanger, from where the
heat is transferred to the return water of the district heating network.

Flue gas scrubbers
for many purposes
T
he Finnish company Metso
Power is one of the world’s
leading manufacturers of flue gas
scrubbers.
“Our flue gas scrubbers are
applicable to a wide range of
power plants, which fire different
kinds of organic biomass,
peat, municipal waste and even
coal. The scrubbers are also used
in diesel power plants and ships,”
says Product Manager Tarja Korho
nen of Metso Power.
She adds that Metso Power’s
flue gas scrubber cleans for example
dusts, ammonia, hydrochloric
acid and sulphuric acid.
“The scrubber can be used in
different types of plants, irrespective
of the combustion method.
Heat recovery can also be integrated
with the scrubber. The
recovered heat can be recycled,
for instance in a district heating
network or an industrial process,”
Tarja Korhonen says.
Many of the company’s customers
equip their plant with an
electrostatic precipitator or baghouse
filter alongside the flue gas
scrubber. The flue gas scrubber
most often comes after the electrostatic
precipitator or baghouse filter
in the combustion process. Tarja
Korhonen says that this reduces
the total emissions significantly.
The main market areas for
Metso Power’s flue gas scrubbers
are the Nordic countries and the
rest of Europe. Some scrubbers
have also been delivered to Asia
and America.
“We have offices around the
world. We are always close to the
customer. This is an important
consideration especially in equipment
maintenance.”
Tarja Korhonen emphasises
that the company’s flue gas scrubbers
are effective and of high
quality, and they meet the latest
emission requirements.
“Being a strong company, we
are able to guarantee continuity to
our customers. This is evidenced,
among other things, by our exceptionally
long reference list of
customers.” zx
Ash handling systems (Elmomet)
Raw water screening systems
Forged conveyor chains
POWER PLANT
DESIGN AND
CONSULTING
Kopar
in energy and power
Kopar Oy
- Sepänkatu 2 - FI-39700 Parkano - Finland -
- Tel +358 3 440 180 - Fax +358 3 440 1811 -
info@kopar.fi www.kopar.fi
www.oke.fi
Product Manager Tarja Korhonen: Metso Power has a long experience
of the manufacture of flue gas scrubbers.
31

Good insulation of district
heating pipes improves energy efficiency
Heat losses
under control
The insulation used on district heating pipes in Finland is
more effective than elsewhere in Europe. The new insulation
recommendations are raising the level further.
Text by Petri Sallinen
The district heating pipelines used in
Finland consist of a service pipe made
of steel, surrounded by polyurethane
thermal insulation. The insulating layer is protected
by an outer casing made of polyethylene
plastic. A similar structure is currently used
also elsewhere in Europe, but the two-pipe
design is a Finnish and Swedish specialty.
In the two-pipe structure, the supply
water and return water pipes are in the
same package, inside a uniform insulation
and outer casing. The two-pipe structure is
clearly more energy efficient than two pipes
installed separately. The energy efficiency
of the two-pipe structure increases further
when the thickness of the insulation of the
package is increased. The two-pipe structure
is usually used in the smaller pipelines of
district heating networks.
32
National recommendation
applied for a length of time
The structure of district heating pipes in
Finland is standardised by means of European
EN standards. The standards have
been supplemented in Finland in terms of
specifications concerning the thickness of
the thermal insulation, among other things.
District heating companies have used such
pipes manufactured on the basis of the
national recommendation well before the
EN standards. The manufacture and use of
standardised pipes improve the profitability
of manufacture and intensify the construction
of networks considerably.
The Finnish recommendation concerning
the thickness of the thermal insulation,
applied for the past 30 years, was updated
in 2010. The new recommendation specifies
a thicker thermal insulation. At present, all
one-pipe and two-pipe structures use the
maximum insulation thickness, the so-called
series 3 specification. At the same time,
an Excel-based spreadsheet program was
devised, allowing the builder of the district
heating network to calculate the optimum
insulation thickness for the pipes.
“However, the calculation program
does not intend that the district heating
companies would start ordering pipes with
project-specific insulation thicknesses. The
program produces reference data on the
cost implications and thermal losses of the
structure. In special cases, such as when large
trunk pipelines are built, it may be necessary
to order pipes with an insulation thickness
deviating from the recommendation,” says

Veli-Pekka Sirola
The thickness of thermal insulation on district heating pipes has always been high in Finnish
recommendations – also in the old recommendations applied during the past 30 years.
District Heating Adviser Veli-Pekka Sirola
of Finnish Energy Industries.
Standard-like recommendation
The structural recommendation concerning
district heating pipes resembles a standard.
The recommendation is drawn up
by Finnish Energy Industries, which also
represents the district heating business.
The background work has involved district
heating companies, pipe manufacturers and
research institutes. The recommendation is
followed comprehensively in Finland. From
the pipe manufacturers’ point of view, it
is advantageous that all district heating
companies use standard pipes – this keeps
the range of products under control.
“The insulation thickness recommendation
stems from the total costs, where energy
efficiency carries paramount weight. The
underlying factors include issues such as
reduction of thermal losses, manufacturing
costs of pipes, building costs, capital costs,
and the price trend of energy,” Veli-Pekka
Sirola says.
District heating networks have a long
life cycle – more than 50 years. This is
why, when examining the optimisation
of the insulation thickness, it is assumed
that energy price will rise slightly faster
than the general price level. The building
costs are estimated using statistical averages,
and the manufacturing costs are assessed
based on information obtained from pipe
manufacturers.
High insulation thicknesses
The thickness of thermal insulation on
district heating pipes has always been high
in Finnish recommendations – also in the
old recommendations applied during the
past 30 years. Veli-Pekka Sirola says that the
use of thick insulation is a proven practice.
“Thermal losses have been small in
Finnish district heating networks. Thermal
losses account for 8-9 per cent of the
transmitted energy. In large densely-built
urban networks, the thermal losses are only
5-6 per cent.”
The thermal insulation on Finnish district
heating pipes is thicker than in other
European countries. Finland is also the only
country that has a national recommendation
concerning the insulation thicknesses
of pipes. In many other countries, the insulation
thickness is decided by individual
companies and for individual cases. zx
Leading on-site coating and maintenance technology
Wear and corrosion-resistant coatings, on-site
machining and machine installations.
Nokia: tel. +358 3 342 6500
Raahe: tel. +358 8 2117 888
Taivalkoski: tel. +358 8 8297 700
www.telatek.fi
33

Text by Markku Niskanen
Finnish district heating
know-how exported to
Eastern Europe and China
Finpro, which promotes the international success of Finnish businesses, together
with companies engaged in the energy industry and the Finnish Ministry of
Employment and the Economy is carrying out a project used for marketing district
heating know-how in Eastern Europe, former CIS countries and China.
S
enior Consultant Helena Sarén,
who has been creating the project
within Finpro, says that the time is
right and the outlook is promising.
“Finland can provide a total package
which promotes the climate targets and
intensifies energy use. Being one of the
most progressive countries in district heating
globally, Finland has much to give to
others. International customers are offered
a value chain ranging from fuel logistics to
the distribution of district heat.”
Helena Sarén, who works in Finpro’s
team specialised in energy, the environment
and forests, assists enterprises in their international
expansion. She helps small and
medium-sized enterprises to embark on
the international market and contributes
to company-specific consulting, and she is
now guiding a larger group of companies
to international success.
“The district heating project, where
the country-specific surveys began in April,
involves 10 to 15 companies, which together
can offer a comprehensive plant supply. The
project encompasses enterprises specialised
in bioenergy, power plant machinery, district
heat production and transfer, and IT
expertise. Training expertise in the energy
business would make an interesting addition,”
Helena Sarén says.
On one hand, Helena Sarén admits
that the joint project is challenging, and
on the other hand she points out that the
34
Senior Consultant Helena Sarén standing
in front of Finpro’s office.
team providing the total package has better
chances of success.
“It is more and more difficult for individual
players to get involved in large
projects, because those planning energy
projects are interested in a package comprising
the entire power plant and distribution
system.”
Towards networking
The Ministry of Employment and the Economy
together with the participating companies
funds the project start-up phase, which will
last until the end of this year. In the future,
the project will progress from marketing
towards equipment deliveries, at which stage
the enterprises become more involved.
“Financial support from the government
is necessary in the start-up phase. Networking
would make no progress and no new cooperation
models could be created without
government support,” Helena Sarén says.
She expects networking and joint marketing
to bear fruit. Previous examples of
this include Cleantech Finland and similar
projects in Denmark and Sweden.
Eight countries
The project targets at eight countries with
the best opportunities and most potential.
“In these countries, the standards used
and the compatibility of district heating
production with Finland fall best into
place. The involvement of Poland, Czech
and Hungary is partly due to the fact that
construction projects to be launched in
these countries may receive co-funding
from the EU. Of the former CIS countries,
the project concerns Russia, the Ukraine,
Belarus and Kazakhstan. Surveys are also
made in China. As a result of good experiences
of co-operation, the Finnish district
heating concept can be later exported to
other countries, too,” Helena Sarén states.
She adds that this time the countries
in Western Europe were not as attractive

Interest towards China
“Helsinki Energy is interested in markets
outside the European Union, and especially
China. We already have partner companies
in China, and the bridgehead is being consolidated
further. We are also interested,
together with other Finnish companies,
in projects aiming to reduce emissions in
China,” says Veikko Hokkanen, who heads
the heating businesses of Helsinki Energy.
Even though Veikko Hokkanen does
not expect significant financial benefits
from the district heating project launched
by Finpro, he considers involvement in it
as necessary.
“Helsinki Energy, the biggest district
heating company in Finland, supports the
other players and promotes networking
between them within the project. If the
projects can utilise the emissions trading
mechanisms, the projects can give Helsinki
Energy indirect and also direct advantages.”
Veikko Hokkanen points out that Helsinki
Energy is not specialised in consulting
and sales of knowledge.
In the 1990s Helsinki Energy participated
in co-operation within Finenergy. In
this co-operation, enterprises marketed
their products and know-how mainly in the
Baltic countries and Russia. At around the
same time, Danish companies started the
marketing of district heating, supported by
their government.
“The Danes reached better results than
Finns, because Finns had to make do with
business start-up allowances. The Danes
organised their efforts further, and these efforts
still continue and are well co-ordinated.
Finland also has to endeavour to this,”
Veikko Hokkanen says.
“Of course, Finns closed some deals,
but these were closed by individual companies.
As an example, Helsinki Energy sold its
expertise to the neighbouring countries of
Finland. These projects in the neighbouring
countries were subsidised by the EU and
the government of Finland. Helsinki Energy
together with engineering agencies has also
participated in the development of district
heating in Poland and Bulgaria,” says Veikko
Hokkanen, second deputy of the President
of Helsinki Energy.
to the project participants as the countries
located in the east.
“You cannot reach in all directions at
the same time. The expansion of district
heating is accelerating in the United States,
but the standards and dimensions there are
so different that we are not planning to go
there together.”
More than 100 interviews
Finland does not endeavour to enter other
countries’ power plant markets and district
heating markets in the same way as earlier.
The group of companies will not travel to
these countries to sell their products and
expertise, not at least in the first stage.
“What is done first in each target
country is a survey by Finpro, reviewing
the construction plans concerning district
heating and also whether a particular project
concerns the renewal of a district heating
network or energy production. The
availability of funding is also ascertained.
The survey covers the most promising and
likely building projects, which are examined
through a total of 100-150 expert interviews
in eight countries,” Helena Sarén says.
The project utilises Finpro’s experts in
the target countries. The project manager is
Kari Vähäkangas, who heads Finpro’s Trade
Centre in Hungary. Moreover, Finpro has
hired Doctor Arto Nuorkivi as a technical
expert for the project.
Helena Sarén emphasises that the
project progresses according to the customers’
needs.
“The ultimate goal is to make sure that
supply and demand meet each other. After
we have picked 10-20 projects related to
district heating in the various countries,
Finpro’s experts will visit these projects in
person to sell the Finnish concept.”
She also says that the offering covers
ascertaining the Nordic, European and
global financial instruments.
“Funding certainly has an ever more
pronounced role, especially in the emerging
markets.
Finpro together with the experts compiles
materials, which will also be given to
all interviewees in the different countries.”
“This information package provides
basic information on the environmental
friendliness and energy efficiency of Finnish
district heating production and distribution
and on the Finnish companies involved,”
says Helena Sarén.
Small ones along, too
“Since Finland is a world leader in district
heating typically produced in power plants
which generate both heat and electricity,
we possess expertise which attracts international
interest. Through co-operation,
even small companies in the energy business
may find opportunities to export expertise
and technology.”
Pentti Puhakka, Senior Engineer at the
Energy Department of the Finnish Ministry
of Employment and the Economy, participates
in Finpro’s district heating project as
a member of the steering group.
“Government involvement in projects
such as this brings a number of benefits.”
Pentti Puhakka, who works in the energy
efficiency and technology group, thinks
that the participation of the Ministry of
Employment and the Economy also makes
Finnish players interested in transnational
co-operation.
“The government contributes to the
co-operation and international marketing
of the Finnish district heating cluster. Of
course, the Ministry supports also other
projects pertaining to international expansion,”
Pentti Puhakka says.
“The objective is to get international
financial institutions such as the World Bank
and the European Bank for Reconstruction
and Development (EBRD) to finance climate
change projects. Total deliveries will
also be offered to developing countries which
produce energy from renewable fuels.” zx
35

Modular
power plants
up to 5.6 MW e
up to 18 MW th
BFB
boiler plants
up to 120 MW e
up to 400 MW th
CFB
boiler plants
up to 300 MW
e
up to 800 MW th
CASE
Bad Arolsen,
Germany
CASE
Dalkia Facture,
France
CASE
Porin
Prosessivoima,
Finland
One collection – countless possibilities
Metso is a front-runner in combustion technology for sustainable energy generation.
Our offering, complete solutions and technologies for CHP generation include:
• Multi-fuel boiler plants
• Complete modular power plants
• Local heating plants
• Environmental protection systems
• Lifecycle services
More information: www.metso.com/energy
36