Fortum wins COGEN Europe Annual Recognition Award for its investments in highly efficient CHPs based on local fuels
Fortum Corporation Press release 4 April 2014
Fortum has been recognised by COGEN Europe for an effective implementation of its resource efficient CHP strategy. Despite challenging business conditions and diverse local legislative requirements, Fortum has in one year commissioned a portfolio of four new combined heat and power (CHP) plants in four different countries in the Baltic Rim area. All those plants increase the share of heat and electricity produced from renewable sources in the region by 86 MWe and 243 MWth, which roughly equals to the heat consumption of approximately 50,000 and electricity consumption of approximately 80,000 households.
Klaipeda waste-fuelled CHP plant in Lithuania, Järvenpää bio-fuelled CHP plant in Finland, Jelgava bio-fuelled CHP plant in Latvia and Brista waste-fuelled CHP plant in Sweden bring numerous economic, social and environmental benefits to the local societies they serve. In Klaipeda reduced dependence on imported fuels resulted in lower heat prices for customers. The plant has also solved local problems with waste management transforming all local municipal waste into heat and electricity thus helping Klaipeda region meet the EU requirements of the Waste Directive. District heating networks in Stockholm and Jelgava also benefit from lower production costs which will eventually also benefit the customer. Additionally, CO2 emissions levels are reduced when gas or oil based heat boilers are replaced with efficient waste or biomass-fired CHP units.
CHP production is a sustainable and energy-efficient way to produce energy as almost 90% of the fuel's primary energy can be utilised in the process. Combined generation reduces environmental emissions between 25 and 40% compared to separate production of electricity and heat.
When accepting the award at COGEN Europe annual conference in Brussels on 3 April, Håkan Grefberg, Senior Advisor to Fortum Heat business said: "We are happy to see that our strategy to promote efficient and environmentally friendly production based on local fuels has been appreciated across Europe. We are proud to have developed the first waste based CHP plant in the Baltic countries, which is now serving the local community in Klaipeda and we are a proud owner of the largest bio-fired CHP plant in Latvia."
"Construction of several plants in different countries at the same time was challenging to our organisation, but for example the simultaneous construction of 'twin' plants in Järvenpää and Jelgava brought substantial cost-efficiency and reduced the time for project implementation", says Markku Nordström, Industry Intelligence Manager at Fortum Heat business.
Fortum Corporation
Corporate Communications
Additional information:
Markku Nordström, Industry Intelligence Manager of Fortum Heat business, Finland, tel. +358 50 454 3224
Images of Klaipeda, Järvenpää, Jelgava and Brista CHP plants are available at:
http://mediabank.fortum.com:80/public/ec0ea18ce1FD.aspx
Fortum
Fortum’s purpose is to create energy that improves life for present and future generations. Catering to the versatile needs of our customers, we generate, distribute and sell electricity and heat, and offer related expert services. Our operations focus on the Nordic and Baltic countries, Russia and Poland. In 2013, Fortum’s sales totalled EUR 6.1 billion and comparable operating profit was EUR 1.6 billion. We employ approximately 9,500 people. Fortum’s shares are traded on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki. www.fortum.com
CHP - combined power and heat production
CHP production is a sustainable and energy-efficient way to produce energy as almost 90% of the fuel's primary energy can be utilized in the process. Combined generation reduces environmental emissions 25‒40% and the use of bioenergy is CO2 neutral. Based on Fortum's CHP strategy rationale has been to replace fossil-based (coal/gas) heat-only boilers with biomass or waste CHP, giving more affordable and competitive heat prices for end-customers.
COGEN
COGEN Europe is the European association for the promotion of cogeneration. Its principal goal is to work towards a wider use of cogeneration in Europe for a sustainable energy future. COGEN Europe promotes the widespread development of cogeneration in Europe and worldwide. To achieve this goal, COGEN Europe works at the EU level and with member states to develop sustainable energy policies and remove unnecessary barriers to implementation.