Promotion of circular economy

Circular economy is a key area of operations in our strategy. Our target is to phase out the use of fossil fuels in the Vantaa region in 2026. Increasing the energy utilisation of waste is a central part of the solution of phasing out fossil fuels.

Vantaa Energy is also planning the world’s largest seasonal heat storage facility to store waste energy produced in the summer season and discharge it in the winter when the heat demand is at its highest. We are also investing in the utilisation of our customers’ excess heat and in the development of heat products and services.

In 2020, we aim to use about 700 GWh of various recovered fuels and biofuels in a versatile way.

The main fuel used in the Martinlaakso bioenergy heating plant is domestic locally sourced wood fuel, such as forest fuels and by-products of the sawmill and plywood industry. In 2000, we used about 600 GWh of recovered fuels and biofuels. Due to a warmer than average year, fuel consumption was lower than planned.

We are currently building an extension to the waste-to-energy plant, which would utilise waste from trade and industry, sorted by recycling facilities, such as non-recyclable cardboard and plastic.

We enable the utilisation of customers’ waste heat in our district heating network. Our aim for 2020 is 1 GWh.

The processes of local enterprises and industry produce waste heat as by-product. Vantaa Energy aims to utilise, for example, excess heat produced by data centres in Vantaa in its open district heating network as a source of extra energy. Vantaa Energy has a contract with one customer concerning the supply of waste heat.

Planned for Kuninkaala in Vantaa, the seasonal facility will be able to store heat from all renewable energy production forms in the future. In time, it will also be possible to store in the facility waste heat purchased by Vantaa Energy from its customers.

Our target is more efficient utilisation of material flows. Vantaa Energy strives to reduce the consumption of make-up water and process water in district heating. For make-up water, the maximum target is 1.5 times the volume of the district heating network.

In 2020, the joint Power-to-Gas project between Vantaa Energy and Wärtsilä was launched, studying the carbon dioxide capture from the flue gases of the waste-to-energy plant to produce synthetic carbon-neutral gas for heat production and for use in transport.

In terms of Vantaa Energy, efficient use of water in business operations is important. In 2020, the consumption of make-up water in the district heating network was 1.47 times the volume of the network. Make-up water is used especially in energy production processes and as extra water in the district heating network. The amount of make-up water is also a good indicator of the condition of the district heating network as a whole.