The electric boiler at the Toppila power plant is Oulun Energia’s second plant for the production of renewable district heat. The first 40 MW electric boiler was commissioned at the Laanila power plant area in late 2023. With the Toppila investment, Oulun Energia’s electric boiler capacity will increase to a total of 100 megawatts. 

District heating produced with an electric boiler is an important part of a diversifying and distributed district heating production. Electric boilers produce district heat during periods of inexpensive electricity, which makes it possible to take advantage of electricity price fluctuations. To explain it simply, the operation of the electric boiler is based on boiling water, from which heat is directed to the district heating network. 

“With the commissioning of the electric boiler at the Toppila power plant in 2025, we will at best be able to replace one truckload of solid fuels per hour using the production of electrified district heat. This contributes to the security of supply of energy production”, says Pertti Vanhala, business director of energy production at Oulun Energia.  

The Toppila power plant area will change, but will continue in Oulun Energia use 

The Toppila 2 unit is Oulun Energia’s largest heat production unit in terms of power output. Its use will end when the thermal output substitution has been completed with the other investments in district heating. According to current estimates, the thermal output substitution will have been achieved in the early 2030s. The substitution power is produced, for example, by receiving surplus heat and recovering it for the district heating network.

Examples of ongoing projects include the operation of the Nokia energy centre, as well as the recovery of surplus heat produced from the cooling of refrigeration appliances in the service and commercial industries. Oulun Energia is also planning to build a hydrogen production plant in Laanila, where the heat energy generated as a by-product could play a significant role in clean district heating production in the future. 

The Toppila power plant area is the optimal location for an electric boiler, as the area already has a high-quality infrastructure for electricity and heat. A district heating battery, among other things, is located in Toppila, which can store district heat produced during periods of inexpensive electricity and discharge it into the network when the use of the electric boiler is not cost-effective.  

At the moment, no other new investments besides the electric boiler have been planned for the Toppila power plant area.