€22.8m granted to phase out 3 coal energy plants

The government on Friday granted EUR 22,829,282 in aid to three projects in Espoo, Kirkkonummi and Vaasa to phase out coal energy plants.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment has adopted the new decisions concerning investment aid for projects that rapidly phase out the use of coal energy, said Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment in a press release.

Earlier, the Ministry granted EUR 7,715,880 to four projects to phase out the use of coal in December 2020. In total, the seven projects received EUR 30,545,162.

In accordance with the Act approved in 2019, coal-fired power and heating generation will be banned as of 1 May 2029. According to the Government Programme, companies and communities that phase out the use of coal by 2025 can receive separate incentives to fund investments replacing coal.

The supported projects will reduce the energy use of coal by more than 1,700 GWh per year and fossil CO2 emissions by more than 660,000 tonnes per year.

“Support for phase out the use of coal has been an excellent way of accelerating the transition to zero-emission heat and electricity production. The three sites now being supported, will use heat pumps, waste heat and biomass to replace coal even before the statutory ban. At the same time, they are part of the transition from import-based fossil fuels to domestic renewable energy production”, said Minister of Economic Affairs Mika Lintilä.

The projects are part of broader plans to phase out the use of coal on an accelerated timetable in certain areas receiving aid. The recipients of aid will also implement other measures to phase out coal by 2025.

Aid was granted to two projects that will introduce non-combustion-based technologies in district heat generation technologies and the use of biomass in power and heat generation, respectively.

Fortum Power and Heat Oy received EUR 6,196,000 to construct a 20 MW air to water heat pump plant in Espoo’s Kera. The plant would be connected to a low temperature heat network in the Kera area and the Espoo district heating network.

Fortum Power and Heat also plans to recover heat from data centres in its district heating network areas in Kirkkonummi and Espoo. These projects received EUR 8,234,000. In the first phase, the company plans to construct 60 MW heat pump plants that will utilise waste heat.

Vaasan Voima Oy plans to build a combined heat and power plant, which is connected to a heat storage and uses biomass, in Vaasa. The aid granted for the project totals EUR 8,399,282.

In December 2020, four projects in Espoo, the Turku region and Vaasa received aid. The supported projects by Fortum Power and Heat Oy, Turun Seudun Energiantuotanto Oy and Vaasan Sähkö Oy involve combining a large-scale air to water heat pump with district heat generation and utilising waste heat in district heat generation.