Decreasing emissions with 4,000 tons
FC Power Oy, a joint enterprise by Kemira Chemicals Oy and Leppäkosken Sähkö Oy, has initiated CO2 free heating in Joutseno’s district heating network. From October 2012 onwards, the production of Joutseno’s district heating is based on the utilization of heat from Kemira’s manufacturing processes and the combustion of hydrogen, which is formed as a by-product in the process. According to estimates, the CO2 free heat produced by FC Power will cover as much as 90% of Joutseno’s district heating demands, all of which was formerly produced with fossil fuel natural gas. This enables the CO2 emissions of residential area of Joutseno to be reduced by 4,000 tons a year.
Hydrogen the fuel of the future
The equipment needed for heat production have been installed in the Joutseno hydrogen power plant in the summer 2012. Such large-scale combined heat and power plant exploitation of hydrogen in district heating is extremely rare throughout Europe.
Hydrogen is regarded as the fuel of the future because of its purity and recyclability. It is more sustainable, as the end product of its combustion is pure water vapor. At present, Joutseno has the only combined heat and electricity hydrogen power plant in Scandinavia, standing as a good example of decentralized energy production that has both been done locally and environmentally sound way.