Finland's largest waste-to-energy plant operated by Vantaa Energy was inaugurated on Wednesday. Photo – Lehtikuva.
Vantaa Energy on Wednesday launched the country’s largest waste-to-energy plant which converts mixed waste material into energy.
The plant will generate 920 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of district heat and 600 GWh of electricity per year, said a release. The plant will utilise 320,000 tonnes of mixed waste material annually to generate the energy.
This will cover around half of Vantaa’s district heating demand and around 30 per cent of the city’s annual electricity demand.
Economic Affairs Minister Jan Vapaavuori (left) and Pertti Laukkanen, the Managing Director of Vantaa Energy inaugurated the plant on Wednesday. Photo – Lehtikuva.
The plant will reduce Vantaa Energy’s reliance on fossil fuel for energy production by 30 per cent and the company’s carbon dioxide emissions in Vantaa will be reduced by approximately 20 per cent.
Vantaa Energy Managing Director Pertti Laukkanen hailed the company’s commitment to climate change mitigation through the waste-to-energy plant.
The fuel used in the waste-to-energy plant is source-separated mixed waste collected from the Helsinki region by the Helsinki Region Environment Services-HSY and from Uusimaa by Rosk’n Roll Oy.
According to Vantaa Energy, the new plant will improve energy supply assurance, as it will reduce the use of imported fuel.
The power plant’s construction work started in 2011.
