A coal-fired plant goes green

The ribbon cutting ceremony at the inauguration of the plant was performed by Rami Vuola, Chairman of the Board of Vaskiluodon Voima and CEO of EPV Energia Oy, a joint owner of Vaskiluodon Voima (left); Lauri Ihalainen, Minister of Labor; Lauri Virkkunen, President and CEO of Pohjolan Voima Oy, the other joint owner of Vaskiluodon Voima; and Jyrki Holmala, President of Pulp and Energy business line of Valmet.

The new 140-MW bio-gasification plant features Valmet’s (until Dec. 31, 2013 Metso) innovative concept for gasifying and utilizing biomass. The delivery included fuel handling, a large-scale dryer, and a circulating fluidized bed gasifier, modification work on the existing coal boiler, and a Metso DNA automation system. The bio-gasification plant was constructed as part of the existing coal-fired power plant, and the produced gas will be combusted along with coal in the existing coal boiler.

The plant is ground-breaking in many ways, particularly as this is the first time anywhere in the world that biomass gasification is being adopted on such a large scale for the replacement of fossil fuels.

“Vaskiluodon Voima made a coal-fired plant go green, and for this reason will set an example for others to follow in the future,” explained Jyrki Holmala, President of Valmet's Pulp and Energy business line.

Metso’s work safety is highly valued

Close to half of the coal used by the plant can be replaced with gasified biomass. This means the solution is highly environmentally friendly, it also enables the flexible use of different fuels and significantly extends the life of the current power plant.

Mauri Blomberg, Managing Director of Vaskiluodon Voima, is happy that the company now has an alternative to coal-firing in its processes. “I'm sure that gasification is the right choice for us, and I believe that other power plants will also start to use it,” he commented. “Metso and today Valmet is our long-time partner and was thus a natural choice to supply the technology.”

“We now use three to six kilos less coal per second in our production than earlier. This means having one coal shipment less per month,” explains Matti Loukonen, Power Plant Manager of Vaskiluodon Voima.

Loukonen is happy that the project is now finally completed and everything went according to plan. Special thanks must go toValmet's work safety culture. “Although at some point there were about 200 people working on the site, there was only one incident reported—and that was a strain injury!” Contact usValmet locations Contact form Related articles Fuel conversion for power boilers: Vaskiluodon Voima Oy, Vaasa, Finland