Progressive biomass gasification plant
The Vaasa combined heat and power plant uses coal and domestic biomass as fuel. It produces between 900 and 1,700 GWh of electricity a year, and the district heating it produces covers more than 60% of the demand in Vaasa.
The world's first biomass gasification plant
The power plant has a progressive biomass gasification plant built next to it. It gives the plant the ability to replace about a third of the coal used with domestic biomass, reducing its carbon dioxide emissions by the amount discharged by approximately 70,000 cars.
At a low output, the Vaasa power plant can also be used entirely without coal.
In autumn 2015, an electrically powered on-site crusher was commissioned at the power plant in Vaasa, and timber trucks deliver forest fuels to it straight from forest depots. Our aim is to have about 2/3 of the forest fuels we use delivered to the on-site crusher, and about 1/3 will arrive at the plant as ready wood chips.
Technical details for the combined heat and power plant in Vaskiluoto, Vaasa:
Boiler: a Benson-type once-through boiler, reheater
Desulphurisation plant: based on the wet scrubbing technique; uses limestone as alkaline sorbent and produces gypsum as a by-product
NOx removal: Low-NOx burners and Overfire Air (OFA) system
Turbine: a three-casing turbine with extractions for district heating and an air-cooled generator
Biomass gasification plant: a 140 MW bio gasifier and forest chip dryer
Fuels: woody biomass, energy peat, coal
Electric power (nett): 230 MW
District heating power: 175 MW
Electricity production: 0.9–1.7 TWh/a
District heating production: 400–480 GWh/a
Processing of by-products
Ash: 50,000 tons/a, 100% are utilised
Fuels 2024
The efficiency of Vaasan Voima’s power plants in Vaskiluoto is extremely high, thanks to their combined heat and power production. The innovative technology makes it possible to replace the use of coal with biomass and electric boilers.
