DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS

Lounavoima is a partner in innovative circular economy and energy solutions

The company actively seeks technical solutions for reducing emissions and improving energy efficiency. Lounavoima is a competitive partner in innovative circular economy and energy solutions in the Korvenmäki area. The company actively promotes solutions that support its shareholders’ objectives in material recycling and emissions reductions.

The City of Salo has elevated the circular economy hub that centres around the waste-to-energy plant to the status of key project. The circular economy is an opportunity for diversifying the city’s economic structure. By promoting circularity we are also responding to some of the greatest global challenges faced by the world, such as diminishing natural resources and climate change.

Heat for the winter from deep heat storage

A heat storage facility is being bored on the site of the WtE plant.

Salo is taking a new step towards zero-emissions heat generation. A heat storage facility is being drilled into the bedrock on the site of the Korvenmäki WtE plant, for the purpose of storing excess heat generated during the summer. The stored heat will be used in winter, when heat demand is at its highest.

In the first phase, one well with a depth of approximately 1,6 kilometres was drilled in Korvenmäki. The first well is currently being tested and will be completed in 2023. The drilling of a second well is ongoing on the site. If all goes to plan, there will be a total of six deep heat wells on the WtE plant’s grounds. The six-well heat storage will produce 8–10 GWh of heat per year, which corresponds to the heating needs of 400–500 detached houses.

With the completion of the WtE plant, Salo’s carbon dioxide emissions from district heating generation were halved, as waste fuel replaced fossil fuels and peat. The heat storage facility will further improve the plant’s district heating efficiency, as excess heat produced in the summer can be stored and used later when demand is at its highest in winter. The district heating from the storage facility has zero carbon dioxide emissions.

The Finnish Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment gave the Lounavoima heat storage project an investment grant. This financing was intended for renewable energy projects that offer cutting-edge energy solutions that can help in meeting Finland’s and the European Union’s targets for 2030.