Construction of Vantaa Energy’s geothermal heating plant started

(Drilling of the geothermal heating plant in the Varisto is in progress. Photo by Jaakko Jaskari)

The construction of Vantaa Energy’s geothermal heating plant in the Varisto district of Vantaa kicked off in early September. The heating plant is scheduled for commissioning at the end of 2020. The construction work is carried out by Quantitative Heat Oy. The project is one of the reasons why Vantaa Energy will be able to phase out the use of coal already by 2022.

Pure geothermal heat from deep underground will be available at Vantaa already at the end of this year. Quantitative Heat is building a medium-deep geothermal heating plant at the site of the Varisto heating plant, reaching to a depth of two kilometres and consisting of one underground heat well and an overground heat pump plant.

The construction of the heating plant started with the drilling of the heat well. The drilling of the heat well is carried out in phases: by the end of September we will be at a depth of 850 metres, and by the end of October at two kilometres. The drilling causes no disturbance to the nearby residents.

Construction will continue in early November with the building of the heat pump plant and the installation of a collector pipe in the heat well. The collector pipe is an insulated pipe that behaves like a thermos flask. It is used for bringing geothermal warm water to the surface. This water is heated to a temperature of 80 degrees with heat pumps, after which its heat is transferred via a heat exchanger to the Vantaa heating network.

Due to be commissioned at the end of December, the Varisto heating plant will produce about 1,400 MWh of heat, which corresponds to about 40 traditional 300-metre deep geothermal wells in terms of its volume. The project is the first in Finland on such a large scale.

“ With the project, we are seeking experience with a new technology. The existing heating networks act as excellent distribution channels for renewable energy because they can be combined with various production solutions. This solution offers our customers the benefits of geothermal ground-source heat without their own investment, as a carefree service and at a stable price,” smiles Ilkka Reko, Director of Vantaa Energy’s heat business.

“ We are extremely happy that this trailblazing project has now been launched. In the future, this technology can be used for modifying the heating of entire cities to be based on renewable energy in just one go. With our solution, emissions can be reduced by up to 95 per cent compared with fossil fuels. It is great that Vantaa Energy has boldly joined this project in order to achieve its climate targets with a fully renewable energy source,” says Mikael Maksimow, Chief Operating Officer at QHeat.

Vantaa Energy has made significant investments in the eco-friendliness of heat in the past few years. From the beginning of the decade until today, the emissions of heat produced by Vantaa Energy have fallen by 40 per cent. In the near future, the company aims to obtain the heat transmitted in the heat network completely from renewable energy sources.

Further information

Ilkka Reko
Director, Heat Business
Vantaa Energy Ltd
+ 358 50 566 4595
ilkka.reko@vantaanenergia.fi