Finland's largest pellet-fired heat plant

Finland's largest pellet-fired heat plant, operated by Tampereen Energiantuotanto Oy in Tampere, will be run with Metso's automation system. Metso's delivery will take place in the autumn of 2012. Heat production at the new plant will start in late 2012 or early 2013.

The plant currently under construction in the Sarankulma industrial area in Tampere will be used as a peak load and reserve plant to replace the use of existing oil- and gas-fired boiler plants. Its heat capacity will be 33 MW with pellets and 47 MW with light fuel oil.

The new plant will mainly run on pellets made of local, renewable wood that does not produce any CO2 emissions. This is the first time that wood pellets are used for heat production in this class size in Finland. The plant will be delivered by MW Power, a joint venture of Metso and Wärtsilä.

"Tampere is projected to grow in population, which will increase the demand for district heat. With district heat produced by firing pellets, we are looking for a competitive product for our customers. Essential to this pilot project is reliable technology, which will enable us to deliver heat to our customers without any breaks," says Antti-Jussi Halminen, Managing Director, Tampereen Energiantuotanto Oy.

Metso will supply the plant with a Metso DNA automation system similar to the ones that Tampereen Energiantuotanto already uses at all its other power plants. The new plant will be unmanned and controlled via a remote connection from the main control room of the Lielahti power plant. Reliable automation technology enables the operators to flexibly control district heat production and rapidly react to changing situations kilometers away from the Sarankulma plant. With the history data that the system collects from the process, the users will be able to follow how the process develops, learn from earlier situations and avoid the same problems in the future.

Tampereen Energiantuotanto Oy, a subsidiary of Tampere Power Utility, is responsible for the group's electricity and district heating production, maintenance and development. Increasing the proportion of renewable energy sources is part of the Tampere Power Utility's strategy.