OREANDA-NEWS. At the end of September ten specialists from SibCOTES visited several thermal power plants in Finland. The trip was arranged owing to the invitation of SibCOTES Finnish partner - Pоyry company.

Sergey Paseko, Director for Electrical and Control Systems, said that the delegation from SibCOTES visited three power plants. ‘We went to one of the municipal coal-fired CHP plants in Helsinki, CCGT-CHP plant in the suburb of Helsinki and a CHP plant on a Pulp and Paper Mill. We got to know the arrangement of the municipal facilities, including power sector facilities. Helsinki is provided with centralized district heating systems. The city is heated by three municipal CHP plants and by several boiler-houses. Some main heat pipelines together with water conduits and electric networks run in the underground tunnels. According to the Finnish executives the district heating system is currently the most effective one. In addition, a centralized conditioning system is currently being introduced in Helsinki, which we have not seen anywhere yet.’

The three specified CHP plants are equipped with reliable equipment of high quality. One of the plants was built in 1970s and is still in a very good condition. The Finnish plants are highly automated ensuring a high level of efficiency and reliable equipment operation. The CHP plant of the Pulp and Paper Mill is in operation during eight thousand hours a year. This power plant is the only heat source for the paper mill. That is why there are only two short-time repair-periods a year. Additionally, equipment automation makes it possible to operate the power plant only with the help of a small team for field services. Most services at Finnish power plants are outsourced to specialized service agencies.                      

Finnish power plants apply state-of-the-art engineering innovations, technologies and equipment from all over the world, including CFB boilers and combined cycle plants, as well as firing of biomass fuel. The Finns carefully monitor the state of the plants. The equipment is constantly upgraded to increase the fuel combustion efficiency and to reduce the environmental impact. Such technologies as bag filters, staged combustion, low-NOx burners and desulphurization plants are applied to improve environmental performance. As a result, the levels of nitrogen and sulphur oxide emissions from Finnish power plants are much lower than the Code requirements.        

Sergey Paseko pointed out that today Russian power industry followed the same way as Europe: both in terms of effectiveness and ecological compatibility, automation level and service. ‘There is no doubt that in the future we, as the entire world, will use bio-resources, renewable energy sources and become considerate and careful owners… However today we can learn a lot from our foreign counterparts particularly from Pцyry with its extensive experience in power industry.’