Imatra produces carbon-neutral district heating

58 percent of Imatra residents belong to Imatra Lämmö's customer base, the total length of the district heating network is about 85 kilometers and there are 722 district heating customers. The length of the natural gas network is about 63 kilometers and there are 238 customers. 

In 2015, three new bioheat centers and a new district heat transmission line from Virasoja to Mansikkala and Vuoksenniska were built in Imatra. With the new heat centers, Imatran Lämpö Oy switched from natural gas to bioenergy in the production of district heat. The gas-powered heating centers remained peak and reserve plants, so natural gas is practically only used in severe frosts.

More than 96 percent of Imatra's district heating is renewable energy. Byproducts of the forest industry and environmental management in the surrounding area, such as bark and wood chips, are used as energy sources for production. The share of natural gas in the heat sources of district heating production is only 3,8 percent.

Carbon neutral at once

The introduction of bioenergy sources reduced the greenhouse emissions of heat production by 25 to 000 tons per year. In 30, the specific emissions of carbon dioxide (CO000) were only 2018 g/kWh, which means that Imatra's district heating is practically carbon-free.
Local heat based on bioenergy and the utilization of forest industry by-products are part of the circular economy and in their part implement the city's environmental strategy. 

The renovation of heating centers and the introduction of biofuels also reduced the price of district heating by more than 20 percent, which has contributed to increasing the interest of district heating in Imatra. 

- At Imatra, district heating is the most cost-effective and environmentally friendly form of heating. A stable and competitive consumer price is the cornerstone of the company's operations, states the CEO of Imatran Lämpö Oy Vesa-Pekka Vainikka. 

Cross-border cooperation

During the fall, staff from the Ukrainian heating company Miskteploenergiya visited Imatra to familiarize themselves with the operations of Imatra Lämmö. The cooperation is related to the twinning project funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland and managed by NEFCO, where two similar district heating companies exchange know-how and experiences with each other. 

The project started in August and will last four months, during which the Ukrainians will make two visits to Imatra and the Imatra residents will visit Ukraine to get to know the operations of the heating company Miskteplovodenergiya. 

The project culminated in a general final seminar at the beginning of December, where the results and follow-up measures were presented to other Ukrainian heating companies, decision makers and key stakeholders of the Finland Ukraine Trust Fund financing. After the seminar held at the Ministry of Municipalities and Regions of Ukraine, experts from Imatran Lämpö Oy were invited to continue processing the topic at the Ukrainian Embassy of Finland in Kyiv. During the seminar day, it became clear that there is a great need for twinning projects in Ukraine. 

As an example for others

Imatran Lämpö Oy was as a case example about the Finnish low-carbon remote energy system in the high-level meeting held in October in an international seminar.

In December, the world's largest district energy company implemented with modern technology, South Korea's Korea District Heating Corporation (KDHC), which is responsible for heating and cooling Greater Seoul, and planning and project implementation company Korea District Heating Engineering Co., Ltd. (KDHEC) delegation. Koreans are especially interested in the acquisition and utilization of forest-based bioenergy. 
 

More information: CEO Vesa-Pekka Vainikka, vesa-pekka.vainikkaimatra.fi (vesa-pekka[dot]vainika[at]imatra[dot]fi), tel. 020 617 4800.