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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
Page 1 and 2: CHP and district heating in Finland
Page 3 and 4: ISSN 1237-6388 EDITORIAL STAFF Jari
Page 5 and 6: Text by Markku Niskanen Osmo Soinin
Page 7 and 8: Marja Airio/Lehtikuva ances solve t
Page 9 and 10: Text by Petri Sallinen Natural gas
Page 11 and 12: Kaukaan Voima Oy • 385 MWth Bioma
Page 13 and 14: Tero Sivula/Dreamstime.com I n acco
Page 15 and 16: Tougher fuel taxes in Finland Text
Page 17: Text by Markku Niskanen Low2No Low-
Page 21 and 22: energy efficiency in CHP is over 90
Page 23 and 24: Lapuan Energia Oy’s power plant i
Page 25 and 26: 500 district heating customers The
Page 27 and 28: Espoo CHP Power Plant Computer room
Page 29 and 30: Mikko Ruotsalainen of Porvoon Energ
Page 31 and 32: Flue gas scrubbers for many purpose
Page 33 and 34: Veli-Pekka Sirola The thickness of
Page 35 and 36: Interest towards China “Helsinki

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