Geothermal district heating in Espoo
Overview
Espoo is a municipality located in Uusimaa, which rests on the northern shore of the Gulf of Finland. It is the second largest city in Finland with a population of about 300 000 residents and is part of the Greater Helsinki metropolitan area.
It is famous for the Laajalahti Nature Reserve; Kaitalampi lake; and the open-roof Leppävaara Swimming Pool amongst many other tourist hotspots.
It is also home to Finland’s first geothermal district heating network (Finnoon Djupsundsbäcken). The network comprises six apartment buildings in the Finnoo new residential area, which plans to cater for 1,700 inhabitants and businesses.
QHeat, a Finnish geothermal heat company, whose innovative QHeat concept solution based on medium-deep wells at depths between 1,000 – 2,000 meters. The first of the Finnoo project’s geothermal wells, which was completed in September 2022, was drilled to a depth of 1500 meters.
The Finnoo heat well is the third QHeat geothermal heat well that extends to a depth of more than 1,000 metres and the second deepest geothermal heat well in Finland to be commissioned.
When completed, Finnoo's geothermal wells will produce a total of 1,900 MWh of energy per year and result in a 25% reduction in the energy consumption of the six buildings and a 90% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to fossil-based district heating.
For all four sites, the modifications will be completed in spring 2023. During summer 2023, the conversion of three remote sites from a fossil fuel-based district heating network to a geothermal heating solution through a tendering procedure is also planned.
Investments
In 2020, the construction of the new Finnoo district was launched, marking the beginning of a decade-long project to develop the area with additional buildings and a metro station. The objective was to position Finnoo as a pioneer of sustainable urban construction. Throughout the construction process, emphasis will be placed on employing low-emission, sustainable practices, encompassing everything from initial planning to energy consumption and the selection of building materials. A central component of this sustainable approach is the implementation of a geothermal district heating system, which aligns with the district's overarching philosophy.
In December 2021, QHeat embarked on the construction of the geothermal heating plant at Finnoon Djupsundsbäcken.
By September 2022, the drilling of the first geothermal well was successfully completed, marking a significant milestone in the district's journey towards sustainable energy solutions.
An innovative technology: 5th Generation of District Heating
Finnoo district heating is a fifth-generation district heating. It distributes heat at near ambient ground temperatures (what temperature?), minimizing grid losses and thus, insulation needs. Its main design characteristics are:
Bi-directional exchange of thermal energy: supply of heat means receiving cold and vice versa.
Thermal storage at large and small scale, appropriately places, are integrated with the thermal system to balance the demand for heat and cold.
Demand driven algorithm-based control that optimizes the exergy flows using real-time data and monitoring.
Towards new geothermal solutions in Espoo: phasing out fossil fuels as a form of heating for city properties
The Espoo municipality is aiming at changing the oil-based heating mode of its public buildings towards renewable sources based solutions by 2025. Properties where a district heating connection is available at a reasonable distance will switch to district heat produced with renewable energy. For the others, the transition to geothermal heat will be promoted as a form of renewable heating.
Summary
Total length of wells: 1500m
Geothermal power: 40MW
Units covered: 6 apartments buildings with a total floor area of 14,000 square metres
Total amount of investments: QHeat’s total financing requirement is €7.7 million: the company has collected roughly €2 million in private equity financing and €1 million in shareholder loans
CO2 emissions avoided: 90% reduction in CO2 emissions compared to the average CO2