In accordance with the asset acquisition signed in 2019, Vaskiluodon Voima’s operations were transferred to Vaasan Voima as of 1 January 2023. At the same time, its entire staff became employees of Vaasan Voima. Vaasan Voima Oy is a subsidiary of EPV Energy and wholly owned by it. The company will continue its main task of producing heating and electricity for the needs of the Vaasa region. Together with our partners, we will continue to work tirelessly to make the energy solutions used in Vaskiluoto, Vaasa emission-free.
The Vaskiluoto power plants have a long history in the Vaasa region. In 1954, EPV started planning the first power plant of its own in Vaskiluoto, Vaasa. The plant started operations in 1958. Vaskiluodon Voima was founded in 1969. In 1980, a decision was made to build a coal-fired steam boiler for Vaskiluoto’s second turbine plant, and this boiler is still in use today. Environmental investments in the Vaasa power plant started already in the 1990s, when the company invested in modern combustion technology, a desulphurisation plant and an electrostatic precipitator. The turbine installation was modernised in 1998.
In 2013, a biomass gasification plant – the first and largest of its kind in the world – was built next to the power plant. 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.
The Vaskiluoto power plant complies with the ISO 14001:2015 standard for environmental management systems and the Finnish ETJ+ Energy Efficiency System. The aim of these systems is to support energy companies’ operations and guide them towards continuous improvement. Both schemes are certified, and the current certificate for the environmental system is valid from the 3th of November 2022 to the 30th of May 2023 and for the energy efficiency system from the 6th of December 2021 to the 5th of December 2024.
New energy solutions for Vaskiluoto
The energy system of the future will need more and more flexibility and energy storage facilities. With the energy transition, the share of renewable energy in the grid is increasing dramatically, often leading to situations where there is either too much or too little electricity available.
Vaasan Voima already has one electric boiler and a thermal energy storage facility at Vaskiluoto. Because they have proved to be a very cost-effective solution, we have decided to build more. In autumn 2022, Vaasan Voima made an investment decision on two new 60 MW electric boilers and a major expansion of its thermal energy storage facility.
The new electric boilers and the expansion of the thermal energy storage facility support the parent company EPV Energy’s mission to achieve emission-free and flexible energy production and consumption, and are important components of the clean heat production system of the future. A clean heat production system is a long-term, emission-free solution that will secure heat supply for the regions and also support the needs of the new weather-dependent electricity system.
“With the heat the electric boiler produces, and using the thermal energy storage facility, we can optimise the heat and electricity production of the Vaasa power plant better than ever. Additionally, the electric boiler allows the power plant longer shutdown periods. Together with thermal energy storage optimisation, this creates significant benefits and improves the usability of the power plant system’s heat generation. At the same time, we are improving the profitability of power generation. By using an electric boiler, we can help to take advantage of low electricity prices in situations where there is a great deal of renewable energy in the electricity system. This is also a step towards emission-free heat production,” says the Managing Director of Vaasan Voima, Janne Österback.
“This is an excellent example of utilising a plant we own ourselves to the maximum. Vaskiluoto will continue to be a key operating site for Vaasan Voima,” Österback continues.
There are currently 23 people working at the power plant in Vaskiluoto. They will be transferred to Vaasan Voima under their current employment contracts without losing the employee benefits they have acquired so far.
Excellent cooperation with partners continues
Most of the business arrangements will not affect the operation of the Vaskiluoto power plant site itself.
“We will continue our excellent cooperation with our outstanding partners as before, and our projects will also continue normally,” Österback explains.
For more information contact: Janne Österback, Managing Director, Vaasan Voima Oy, tel. +358 10 5055 235, janne.osterback(at)epv.fi
Read more: https://www.vaasanvoima.fi/en/
