Established in 1888, Tampereen Energia is a modern group of energy companies. It produces Finnish renewable energy and develops energy solutions for the future. The company aims to cut 95% of its CO2 emissions compared to 2010 and increase the share of renewable fuels to 90% by 2030.
Naistenlahti 3 is Tampereen Energia’s largest investment in the green transition toward becoming carbon neutral. The new power plant uses renewable fuels for energy production, and its commissioning cuts the CO2 emissions of all of Tampere by 20%.
Built around a CFB boiler that generates electricity and heat
The modern bio-mass fired boiler plant has a steam capacity of 191 MW, and it replaces the Naistenlahti 2 plant that had reached the end of its technical service life. Naistenlahti 3 will primarily generate district heat, and its production will accounts for up to 50% of the entire city’s district heating annually. As its primary fuel, the plant uses renewable forest-based biomass, such as tree chips and byproducts of the forest industry. Milled peat will remain a backup fuel and that will considerably reduce the amount of fly ash.
At the heart of the power plant is Valmet’s CFB boiler system: It utilizes circulating fluidized bed (CFB) technology and operates for base load generation in district heat production from September to June. The concept is based on combined heat and power production (CHP) that utilizes the existing steam turbine and its auxiliary systems. Insta delivered the instrumentation installations for the boiler plant, including testing.
– Insta’s contract included the instrumentation installations as well as the installation of the camera system, ICT network, and the fire alarm system. This was a turnkey delivery from Valmet – we supplied the field equipment and interfaces, and Insta took care of the rest, explains Tatu Ilonen, EI&C Project Engineer at Valmet.
Schedule adherence and flexibility were key
The construction of Naistenlahti 3 was started in May 2020. Insta’s part of the project started in November 2021, and the work continued until February–March 2023 with additional tasks and modifications. According to Janne Ukonaho, a supervisor from Insta, the work has progressed well overall and, at most, there have been 22 people working on site at the same time.
Both Mr. Ukonaho and Mr. Ilonen say that the area is logistically challenging. This is no surprise: The new boiler plant was built in a narrow space between the building of Naistenlahti 2 and Lake Näsijärvi.
– The layout was very cramped and many different contractors and operators worked in the area. If, for example, the delivery of Insta’s containers had been delayed by just one hour, our logistics operator would have had no choice but to turn them away and reschedule another delivery, Tatu Ilonen explains. Janne Ukonaho says that, in addition to the worksite, supplies and units were stored elsewhere, such as in the districts of Sarankulma and Messukylä.
Mr. Ilonen describes how things had to be shuffled around when the busiest part of the project was moved to the summer months. However, the situation was handled well, and Valmet could commence the test operation on time.
Insta’s strengths include high quality and the ability to work on challenging sites
Tatu Ilonen says that the decision to partner with Insta for the installations was influenced by the understanding of this being a challenging site and previous experience with seeing Insta’s high quality standards in earlier joint projects. A contributing factor was that Insta had worked with Tampereen Energia before.
Mr. Ilonen particularly praises Insta’s flexibility and the way the work and resources were organized at the worksite. He adds that third parties also had no criticism.
– One of Insta’s absolute strengths is the on-site leadership. They show flexibility and are able to get the people to the right place at the right time according to the demand. Another thing is their professional competence – they do what they promise and with great results, Mr. Ilonen sums up.
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