Tricon and Suvic will construct a waste-heat-to-energy power plant for Fortum’s district heating system in Kirkkonummi
A Working Association of Tricon Oy and Suvic Oy will build a waste heat power plant in the data center area of Kirkkonummi. The work will consist of constructing the buildings required for waste heat capture, the foundations of the heat-sink-battery and the pumping facilities. The power plant will provide energy to Fortum’s district heating system in Kirkkonummi.
The power plant, which is using the excess heat generated by the Kirkkonummi data center as well as heat from the surrounding air will consist of a heat capturing facility with heat exchangers, air-to-water heat pumps and electric boilers, as well as a 20 000 cubic meter of water heat-sink-battery and associated pumping facility. The Working Association Tricon-Suvic is the main contractor of the project and is responsible for construction of the buildings, heat-sink-battery foundations and constructing the pumping station. The principal of the work is Fortum Power and Heat Oy. The work will commence in autumn 2023 and will continue until the end of 2025.
“The scale of magnitude of this waste-heat-to-energy conversion is unique not only in Finland but also around the world. The project supplements perfectly Suvic’s carbon-neutral energy construction and design offering for its clients, which previously already included both EPC construction of infrastructure for windfarms and EPC construction of industrial scale solar parks”, states Suvic’s CEO Mr. Ville Vesanen about this large-scale project.
The heat-sink-battery acts as a buffer for the district heating system. The water in the battery system can be heated with waste heat from the data center, but also independently with air-to-water heat pumps and direct electric heating. Reusing waste heat has a large environmental benefit, because it alone will provide a large portion of the energy required by Fortum’s district heating system in the area. The power plant is planned to provide heat from the winter 2025-2026 onwards.
“Fortum has made a pledge to stop using coal in the production of district heat at the latest by the end of 2025 in the Espoo, Kauniainen and Kirkkonummi district systems. The project is important locally, but also countrywide in our journey to a carbon-neutral Finland”, explains the project manager Mr. Teemu Nieminen of Fortum’s heating and cooling business area.
Suvic has been designing and planning the required work for almost a year now in good co-operation with Tricon Oy. ”The physical work will commence in Kirkkonummi in September 2023 and we will be ready for equipment installations in December 2024”, states the project manager of Working Association Mr. Jukka Kallio from Suvic.
The managing director of Tricon Oy Mr. Jukka Siltanen is eagerly waiting for the work to start in the Kirkkonummi Kolabacken area. ”This is a unique opportunity, since re-cycling waste heat will advance our national environmental goals. Re-cycling data center waste heat around the country can contribute several percentage points towards the CO2 reduction target of Finland".
For further information, please contact:
Ville Vesanen
CEO, Suvic Oy
Tel. +358 44 328 9928
Image: Ramboll Finland Oy
