VTT TECHNICAL RESEARCH CENTRE OF FINLAND LTD

Biomass Combined Heat and Power – lessons learned and best practices from FinlandAntti ArastoAlaska Rural Energy Conference26.4.2016, Fairbanks AK

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Outline

1. VTT –Who are we?2. CHP and district heating in Finland3. What is CHP?4. How do the solutions look from technology perspective?5. CHP case examples6. Conclusions

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VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd

Net turnover and other operating income 272 M€ for VTT Group in 2015(VTT Group’s turnover 185 M€ in 2015)

Personnel 2,470 (VTT Group 31.12.2015 )

Unique research and testing infrastructure

Wide national and international cooperation network

We use4 million

hours of brainpower a year to develop

new technological solutions

A leading R&D organisation in Nordic countries We provide expert services

for our domestic and international customers and partners, both in private and public sectors

36% of Finnish

innovationsinclude VTT

expertise

TOP 2VTT is second

most active patenting

organisation in Finland (2014)

CHP and district heating in Finland

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Market share of space heating in FinlandResidential, commercial and public buildings

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District heat production in Finland 2015- 33,0 TWh

Cogenerated electricity 11,8 TWh

Source: Kaukolämpötilastot 2013

What is CHP?

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Combined heat and power production

Process where primary energy is transformed simultaneously into both electric and heat energy (and cooling)

Heat can be utilised for heating of buildings and domestic hot water through district heating (DH) and for process steam for industrial processes

Integral part of the most efficient existing district heating systems

Significant efficiency improvement vs. separate production of heat and electricity

CHP uses heat exiting steam turbines and/or flue gasses directly or through a heat recovery boiler

District heating as a solution for heat supply

In addition to overall efficiency, a relevant parameter concerning CHP plants is power to heat ratio Modern, high efficiency units have high (over 1) power to heat ratios as well as high (over 90 %)

efficiencies

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Energy flows in CHP and separated H/P generationSeparated H/P generation needs 33 % more fuel compared to CHP generation

How do the solutions look from technologyperspective?

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District heating systemMain elements

District heating as a solution for heat supply

Production of heat utilising different technologies and sources of heat

Network of insulated pipes distributing generated heat to consumers

Thermal losses, ventilation heat load and hot water consumption

Heat lossesConversion losses

District heating network of a small Finnish town

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Production

A range of alternative production technologies Combustion of renewable or fossil fuels in combined heat and power

(CHP) plants or boilers, heat pumps, solar collectors, waste heat Modern systems make use of heat storages

Different technologies more suitable for certain roles Base, variable, uncontrollable and peak capacities Efficient system requires smart combination of different sources of heat

District heating as a solution for heat supply

Production roles in a heat load duration curve

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District heat demand

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Operational optimization

How to operate available resources in most efficient way?Optimal operation of production plants depend on…

Value of commodities Electricity, heat and fuels Predicted or known variation during optimized period

Production by uncontrollable heat sources Status of possible heat storage Heat demand and production forecast

Carried out by an optimization model Mathematic description of the system, e.g. in LP or MILP Often done on hourly time steps

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Future District Heating

Consumer’s deviceso Specific heat demand 40 kWh/m3,a - 50 %o Heating/DHW 75/25 % 50/50% o New applications for DHo Low temperature system; radiator, floor, air

conditioning heating

o Remote read metering for each dwellings, 2-way information

Distributiono Distribution temperature 115 °C -> 80 °C -> 60 °C

(low temp. heating)o Heat losses lower 6 %/a 2-3 %/ao Distributed pump capacity in the networko ”smart grid” to district heating network

Heat productiono Hybrid production: RES, bio fuels, waste, ground or

geothermal heat, solar, etc.o Two way heat trade in consumer

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Types of wood fuel used on finland

Majority of the wood used for energy consists of side streams of conventional forestry and from low quality wood that have no competing uses Small wood is harvested from tending of young forests, logging

residue, stumpwood and coarse uncommercial stemwood from regeneration cuttings in mature forests

Photo sources: Metsäteho, mhy.fi, pirkanmaanmetsat.fi, metla.fi

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CHP case examples fromFinland

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Volter 40 Indoor: Generator output 40kW, thermal 100kW

Commercial micro scale biomass CHP byVolter Ltd

13 commercial referencesaround the globe: fromFinland to Ontario and Sidney

Conclusions

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Take home messages Significant efficiency improvement vs. separate production

of heat and electricity Biomass is an excellent local resource for heat, power

and local economy Widely proven in Finland and Scandinavia: reliable, robust and cost

efficient fuel, especially for heat production Technology for bioenergy is commercially proven from kW to 1000MW

scale Trend in Finland (and globally) towards more challenging fuel fractions Boosts local economy and balance of trade

World of power generation is changing. Shift from larger installation to small scale distributed production

Boosting technologies suitable for rural areas and micro grids Energy efficiency in building and new production technologies will have

significant role

Future of CHP -> diversification of production technologies

Solar, wind, geothermal and thermal production in same systems Two way heat (and electricity) trade enabling new prosumers role Lower heat levels -> increased energy efficiency Balancing role of CHP in grids

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Take home messages Significant efficiency improvement vs. separate production

of heat and electricity Biomass is an excellent local resource for heat, power

and local economy Widely proven in Finland and Scandinavia: reliable, robust and cost

efficient fuel, especially for heat production Technology for bioenergy is commercially proven from kW to 1000MW

scale Trend in Finland (and globally) towards more challenging fuel fractions

Boosts local economy and balance of trade World of power generation is changing. Shift from larger

installation to small scale distributed production Boosting technologies suitable for rural areas and micro grids Energy efficiency in building and new production technologies will have

significant role

Future of CHP -> diversification of production technologies

Solar, wind, geothermal and thermal production in same systems Two way heat (and electricity) trade enabling new prosumers role Lower heat levels -> increased energy efficiency Balancing role of CHP in grids

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TECHNOLOGY FOR BUSINESS