In Finland, material handling specialists BMH Technology Oy has announced that it has been selected by Helsinki municipal energy utility major Helen Oy to supply a complete fuel handling system for Helen's Vuosaari C bioenergy heating plant in Helsinki.
In March 2019, Helen revealed plans detailing a new 220MW bioenergy heating plant to be built at its Vuosaari energy site and in February 2020 decided to go ahead with the project as part of its ambition to fast-track its coal phase-out trajectory, and achieve coal-free energy production by 2029 and 100 percent carbon neutrality by 2035.
Dubbed Vuosaari C, the bioheat unit will take energy efficiency to the next level by utilizing flue gas condensing technology and absorption heat pumps in a way that has not been seen in Finland before.
The plant will use wood-based biomass as its fuel. Commissioning the bioheat plant according to plan will enable Helen to partially phase-out the use of coal earlier than anticipated, as the Hanasaari power plant in downtown Helsinki can already be considered an emergency back-up during the heating period of 2022-2023.
Scope of supply
BMH Technology’s delivery for the Vuosaari C plant is a large fuel handling system consisting of fuel receiving, fuel quality control, storage and conveying systems up to the boiler house’s day silos. In addition, it covers buildings and all auxiliary systems.
There are four fuel receiving stations that allow side tipping, back tipping and/or self-unloading. The two fuel quality control stations have a combined capacity of 2 000 m3 per hour and feature ferrous separation, fuel screening, oversize crushing, and automatic fuel sampling.
The fuel storage system consists of a 26 000 m3 A-frame storage with two traversing screw reclaimers and a 5 000 m3 round silo storage with one rotating screw reclaimer. The boiler feeding line has a capacity of 600 m3 per hour.
The fuel handling system will be handed over to Helen in December 2022, after which the plant is due to start heat production. The parties have agreed not to disclose the value of the order although according to BMH Technology, orders of this magnitude typically size amount to around EUR 25 million in value.
