World's Largest Biomass Gasification Plant Comes Online in Finland

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Vaskiluodon Voima's plant is ground-breaking in many ways, as this is the first time in the world that biomass gasification is being adopted on such a large scale for replacement of fossil fuels.

Metso's delivery included fuel handling, a large-scale dryer and a circulating fluidized bed gasifier, modification work on the existing coal boiler, and a Metso DNA automation system. The bio-gasification plant was constructed as part of the existing coal-fired power plant, and the produced gas will be combusted along with coal in the existing coal boiler.

The contract for the new plant was announced in June 2011, and Metso started construction at Vaskiluoto in April of the following year, making the actual construction phase fairly short.

"The operational experiences so far indicate that the 140-MW bio-gasification plant functions as planned, and the produced gas burns cleanly in the coal boiler and reduces emissions," says Mauri Blomberg, managing director, Vaskiluodon Voima.

Nearly half of the coal used by the plant can now be replaced with gasified biomass. This makes the solution highly environmentally friendly, enables the flexible use of different fuels, and significantly extends the life of the current power plant. "The commissioning of the gasification plant is a major step in our company's target of using mainly domestic fuels for heat and electricity production. This can be considered a complete energy turnaround," says Rami Vuola, chairman of Vaskiluodon Voima and CEO of EPV Energia Oy, joint owner of Vaskiluodon Voima.

Vaskiluodon Voima Oy is equally owned by the energy companies EPV Energia Oy and Pohjolan Voima Oy. The company's power plants, located in Vaasa and Seinäjoki, produce electricity and district heating.