INDUSTRY NEWS


INDUSTRY NEWS Gasification plant inaugurated A


ribbon-cutting ceremony recently took place at the inauguration of the 140MW bio-


gasification plant of Vaskiluodon Voima Oy in Vaasa, Finland. The plant features Metso’s innovative concept for gasifying and utilising biomass. The delivery included fuel handling, a large-scale dryer and a circulating fluidised bed gasifier, and a Metso DNA automation system. Modification work was also carried out on the existing coal boiler. 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 plant is ground-breaking in many ways, particularly as this is the first time anywhere in the world that biomass gasification is being adopted on such a large scale for the replacement of fossil fuels. “Vaskiluodon Voima made a coal-fired plant go green and for this reason will set an example for others to follow in the future,”


The ribbon-cutting ceremony at the inauguration of the Vaskiluodon Voima power plant was performed by Rami Vuola, Chairman of the Board of Vaskiluodon Voima and CEO of EPV Energia Oy, a joint owner of Vaskiluodon Voima. He was joined by (from left to right): Lauri Ihalainen, Minister of Labour; Lauri Virkkunen, President and CEO of Pohjolan Voima Oy, the other joint owner of Vaskiluodon Voima; and Jyrki Holmala, President of Metso’s Power business line.


explained Jyrki Holmala, President of Metso’s Power business line. Close to half of the coal used by the plant can be replaced with gasified biomass. This means the solution is very environmentally- friendly and it also enables the flexible use of different fuels and significantly extends the life of the current power plant.


Mauri Blomberg, Managing


New report boosts renewable energy


According to research and consulting firm GlobalData, rising demand for electricity coupled with environmental concerns across Europe is leading countries to look for more diverse energy sources, which will also boost investment in their Transmission and Distribution (T&D) infrastructure.


The company’s latest report with the snappy title ‘Power Transmission and Distribution (T&D) Scenario in Europe – Infrastructure, Investment and Regulations Analysis to 2020’ states that key European countries, including France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Norway and the UK, will spend substantial


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sums on grid expansion and upgrade programmes in order increase security of electricity supply, deploy smart grid technology and accommodate new sources of power generation, particularly renewable. Shivanshu Agnihotri, Senior Analyst at GlobalData, commented: “Renewable energy accounted for around 70% of the total power generation capacity additions made in the EU in 2012 and further additions are being introduced as a result of EU targets aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing the share of renewables’ total energy consumption by 2020”.


Director of Vaskiluodon Voima, is happy that the company now has an alternative to coal-firing in its processes. “I’m sure that gasification is the right choice for us and I believe that other power plants will also start to use it,” he commented. “Metso is our long- time partner and was thus a natural choice to supply the technology. Matti Loukonen, Power Plant


Manager of Vaskiluodon Voima, explained: “We now use three to six kilos less coal per second in our production than earlier. This means having one coal shipment less per month”.


Loukonen is happy that the project is now finally completed and everything went according to plan. Special thanks must go to Metso’s work safety culture. “Although at some point there were about 200 people working on the site, there was only one incident reported – and that was a strain injury!”


Poles use less pellets


Despite proposing new leg- islation to boost investment in biomass power production, the Polish Government has stopped subsidising companies to co-fire plants with biomass pellets. Per- haps inevitably, this has led to a huge drop in demand of approxi- mately 50%.


The Ukraine was a major


exporter of those biomass pellets and the significant drop in demand has had a negative impact on those Ukrainian producers. Some are said to be facing bankruptcy.


Prices continue to fall for existing demand, only reaching up to 105 Euros per ton compared to 125 Euros per ton last year.


Solid results for Andritz


International technology Group Andritz showed solid business development in a difficult overall economic environment during the second quarter/first half of 2013.


In the second quarter of 2013, sales of the Andritz Group amounted to 1,446.3 million Euros, which is an increase of 15.5% compared to last year’s


reference period (Q2 2012: 1,252.1 million Euros). This increase was mainly due to consolidation of the Schuler Group.


In the first half of 2013, sales of the Group reached 2,610.1 million Euros, thus rising by 7.1% compared to the previous year’s reference period (H1 2012: 2,437.8 million Euros).


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