Eco-Industrial Networking: Co-operation Adds Value to Total Environmental and Economic Performance
Company Overview
Fortum Corporation is an international energy group formed through the combination of two Finnish industrial groups, IVO Group, the power company, and Neste Group, the oil and gas company. Fortum has extensive operations in the energy sector in the Nordic countries, the Baltic Rim and in a number of other markets worldwide. Fortum's core business is energy: oil and gas, power and heat, the operation and maintenance of power and other plants, and engineering.
Background
Industrial networking is rapidly becoming a preferred strategy for realizing lower costs and improved competitiveness. Eco-efficiency is a strategy which has as its objective the improvement of environmental performance within a facility or firm. When these two strategies are combined, additional opportunities for environmental and economic benefits result. This approach is known as Eco-Industrial Networking (EIN). By co-operating, partners in EIN can enhance their environmental and economic performance and, as a result, achieve a combined benefit that is greater than the sum of the benefits which each company would realize from optimizing its individual performance alone.
Sustainable development concepts such as EIN should help to provide solutions to current global and local problems experienced by society and the economy. Certain types of networks and co-operation cannot be described in global or general terms. For example, sustainable use of raw materials and energy can only be properly defined and evaluated in the context of local/regional opportunities and potential.
An excellent example of utilizing the local/regional potential for the environmental and economic benefit of all the parties is the energy production system (and other forms of co-operation that it has initiated) in the city of Jyväskylä, Finland.
The Previous Energy Generation System
The previous system of energy generation in the area was made up of several independent components. The main units were:
- two medium-scale heavy fuel-oil CHP (Combined Heat and Power) plants,
- one medium-scale peat heat boiler,
- one medium scale biomass heat boiler, and
- some heavy fuel-oil heat boilers.
The Eco-Industrial Network
The partners in the eco-industrial network at Jyväskylä are:
- Jyväskylän Energiantuotanto Oy, energy producer in which Fortum Power and Heat holds 60 % and the city of Jyväskylä 40 % of shares
- Fortum Power and Heat Oy
- Fortum Service, operation and maintenance of power plants
- the city of Jyväskylä and rural areas surrounding it
- Jyväskylän Energia Oy, a local energy company
- Pappilanvuoren Lämpö Oy, a local district heat company
- Metsä-Serla Kangas Paper Mills, whose products include paper for printing and office use
- Viherlandia, a horticulture, sales and exhibition centre
- UPM-Kymmene Schauman Wood Oy, a plywood producer, and
- local fuel suppliers
The concept of co-operation in the production of energy was first introduced in the Jyväskylä Region in the 1980's, when it became necessary to build new capacity. It proved to be more efficient to build one single power plant to serve industry, the city and the rural areas. The district heat for Viherlandia is extracted from the district heating waters returned from the town and the condensing water of the paper mill.
The 1993 boiler modification to decrease air emissions has also made it possible to increase the use of wood fuels.
Most of the heat required in the district is generated at the Rauhalahti Power Plant. Some heat is also provided by the Savela Power Plant. The primary energy consumption of the system is about 2100 GWh/a. Energy is produced mainly using fuels available locally, of which the most important is milled peat. During recent years the use of surplus wood from neighbouring industrial plants has grown significantly. Its use today is high and any further increases will have to be met by forest processed chips. Using fuel from the locality provides employment, particularly to small communities in sparsely populated area.
About 900 GWh/a district heat is produced in the system, the main user being the city of Jyväskylä. The total process steam production of the system is about 500 GWh/a and electricity production is close to 400 GWh/a. The remaining 300-400 GWh/a represents the losses. The Combined Heat and Power (CHP) production increases overall efficiency to 80-90 % compared to 30-40 % for conventional condensing power plants.
The ash produced by Rauhalahti Power Plant as a by-product is used for landscaping the nearby park and garden area, Viherlaakso, situated between power plant and Viherlandia. Viherlandia Garden Centre, Viherlaakso Theme Park and Kammi Environmental Information Centre are among the most popular tourist attractions in the region.
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