District heating network to open for customers' surplus heat in Oulu
Oulu Energy opens its district heating network to its customers' surplus heat, enabling responsible recirculation of surplus heat generated by customer operations. Selling surplus heat to the district heating network helps Oulu Energy's customers reach their environmental goals. Surplus heat recovery supports the development of Oulu Energy's increasingly diversified energy production system and helps meet carbon neutrality goals.
Oulu Energy develops the energy efficiency of its district heating network and diversifies energy production by opening its district heating network to its customers' surplus heat. An open, or two-way, district heating network enables Oulu Energy to both supply heat to its customers and receive any surplus heat generated by its customers.
“Customers located in the district heating network area can recirculate their surplus heat to Oulu Energy's open district heating network, helping generate carbon-neutral district heating and reduce emissions of their own operations,” says Maunu Laikari from Oulu Energy's Heating and Cooling business.
Surplus heat recovery helps Oulu Energy reach its goal of carbon neutrality by 2030. It also helps companies in the Oulu region meet their environmental objectives while providing opportunities to generate income by selling energy to Oulu Energy.
Until now, only individual industrial and retail properties have been connected to the open district heating network. For instance, Arina Cooperative Society has already had two of its retail properties connected to the open district heating network. At these sites, any surplus heat energy is recovered and recirculated to Oulu Energy's district heating network. A significant industrial site to join the network, Nokia's energy centre, will generate up to 70 GWh in surplus heat annually to the district heating network. The centre will be completed in 2025.
Connecting properties to the open district heating network
“Different types of operators will be able to provide surplus heat to the district heating network. From Oulu Energy's perspective, any heat source that is able to provide surplus heat at the heart of winter is of particular value. This is also reflected in the compensation such customers receive for the heat provided,” Laikari says.
Oulu Energy provides customer-specific solutions for receiving their surplus heat, which helps optimise its ability to determine the property-specific potential of utilising surplus heat.
“Each site is different, and this is why solutions for supplying surplus heat must be tailored for each customer. Our experts identify the specific systems and operating models required separately for each customer,” Laikari says.
Learn more about the open district heating network and recovery of surplus heat
