Blog

Dec 03, 2023

Finland's Helen upgrades district heat boiler in effort to ditch coal

Finnish district heating and cooling company Helen has selected Valmet to

Finnish district heating and cooling company Helen has selected Valmet to convert a coal-fired district heat boiler to bubbling fluidized bed combustion to enable wood pellet firing.

The conversion will take place at the Salmisaari A power plant in Helsinki and will support Helen's mission to phase out coal and be 100% carbon neutral in its energy production by 2030.

Finnish process technology supplier Valmet will deliver fuel conversion from pulverized coal to wood pellets on a hot water boiler. It will be modified to a bubbling fluidized bed boiler with a fuel capacity of 150MW.

The delivery also includes a flue gas cleaning system and a heat recovery system and modification to the Valmet DNA automation system.

Have you read?BMW extends waste-to-energy agreement to power manufacturing plantWaste-to-energy boiler and furnace upgrades in Belgium

According to Valmet, the conversion will increase the plant's energy efficiency, with the flue gas temperature at the stack remaining at 13oC.

The conversion promotes the company's goal of phasing out coal and at the same time strengthens the construction of a sustainable energy system.

The order is included in Valmet's orders received of the second quarter 2023. The value of the order will not be disclosed. The converted boiler will be handed over to the customer in January 2025.

Juhani Aaltonen, responsible for Helen's sustainable energy solutions, said: "The versatile production structure ensures reliability of heat supply even in freezing weather. This project is an important step for us on the way to carbon neutrality."

Niina Ollikka of Valmet added."Converting an existing coal-fired boiler to biofuel combustion is a quick and cost-effective way to transition from fossil to renewable fuels."

The project is a continuation of an existing relationship between Helen and Valmet. In 2018, Valmet started up a 92MWth pellet-fired heating plant at the Salmisaari power plant area. The heat recovery plant belonging to the Vuosaari bio heating plant will be completed in 2023.

Helen Ltd provides services for over 550,000 customers in Finland. They provide heat, cooling and electricity as well as offer solutions for renewable energy, smart buildings and electric transport.