Finland’s largest pellet-fired heating plant ― a peak load facility ― is mainly fired with wood pellets, and its heat output is around 33 MW. The plant has replaced some of the capacity of the oil- and gas-fired boiler plants and has thus helped reduce the CO₂ emissions from the production of district heat.

The plant, which was supplied by Metso to Tampereen Energiantuotanto Oy, Tampere, is the first of its kind in the country, according to Metso.

"The Bioheat RampUp plant delivered by us enables the use of pellets and oil, simultaneously in any proportion or separately, in one and the same boiler, which is operated unmanned,” says Jussi Orhanen, the director of heat and power plants, power business line at Metso. According to Orhanen, the solution is also an option for industry presently using heavy fuel oil for generating process steam. The plant has been producing environmentally friendly energy in Tampere since December.

Metso’s delivery comprised a complete turn-key boiler plant solution and Metso DNA automation system. The new plant operates unmanned with remote monitoring from the main control room of the Lielahti power plant. By using the automation technology, the operators are able to flexibly control the district heat production process and respond to changes. The technology used at the plant is based on the pellet fuel being pulverized in separate grinding mills and burned in a pulverized combustion boiler. The startup and load control of the combustion process is remarkably high and the pulverized fuel allows for clean, energy efficient and flexible heat generation. Pulverized pellet combustion is new to Finland, but Metso has been using it in Sweden on a smaller scale.