Fortum to build power-based heat production in Espoo

The Finnish majority state-owned energy company Fortum is building new emissions-free, electricity-based district heat production in the Nuijala area of Espoo, said the company in a press release on Thursday.

The production plant under construction will have a 50-megawatt electric boiler and an 800-megawatt-hour heat accumulator.

The electric boiler/heat storage combination will increase the flexibility of heat production and level out electricity demand by utilising time-variable electricity pricing.

The construction work will begin this spring, and production is expected to start for the 2025-2026 heating season.

Increasing flexible electricity-based production is part of Fortum and the City of Espoo’s joint Espoo Clean Heat programme, during which Fortum will make district heating in the Espoo, Kauniainen and Kirkkonummi region carbon neutral by 2030.

Fortum’s total capital expenditure to develop the district heating in the Espoo region amounts to about EUR 300 million; The Nuijala production plant’s share of this is about EUR 26 million.