Inauguration of Oulun Energia's Laanila biopower plant

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ceremonies took place virtually and safely with only a handful of people present on site, while a larger number of guests attended online. The guest of honor, Finland’s Minister of Economic Affairs Mika Lintilä participated in the event remotely, too. A video took the guests on a tour through the new plant.

The core of the biopower plant is the Valmet CFB Boiler that utilizes circulating fluidized bed technology and has a steam-generating capacity of 194 MWth at 120 bar, 540 °C. It runs on biomass and solid recovered fuel (SRF). The latter comes mainly from Oulun Energia’s new Rusko waste sorting plant that was inaugurated at the same time as the power plant.

A Valmet flue gas cleaning system enables the plant to fulfill the tightening emission requirements. And what’s more, a flue gas condenser included in the system generates an additional 55 MWth of district heat and increases the energy efficiency and district heating capacity of the plant. Even the water condensed from the flue gas moisture is purified and utilized as makeup water for the boiler and district heating system.

“Valmet’s mission is to convert renewable raw materials into sustainable results. With our technologies, it is possible to reliably produce clean energy with high efficiency. We are delighted to be able to contribute to the joint effort to combat climate change and abandon fossil energy sources,” said Kai Janhunen, Vice President of Valmet’s Energy business unit, in his speech.

Additionally, Valmet’s delivery included a plant-wide automation system and Valmet Industrial Internet applications that make it possible to optimize the use of the entire system in real time.

In the picture: Kai Janhunen (Valmet) and Juha Juntunen (Oulun Energia) in the inauguration event.