in Finland
Study tour of North Karelia
In February 2014 the BioPAD
partners visited the North Karleia
region of Finland. The visit and
learning event was coordinated by
project partners Metla (the Finnish Forest
Research Institute) and was jointly held
with REMOTE, another NPP project,
and PKBEV a project whose mission
is to facilitate the development of
bioenergy business in Pielinen Karelia
region. The visit included study tours of bioenergy sites in the
region, and associated meetings and discussions on the
development of bioenergy in the partner regions.
BioPAD project partners brought participants from their regions to
Finland, These participants have an interest in bioenergy
development to see the variety of bioenergy projects and
enterprise possibilities in North Karelia and to gain an
understanding of how the region of has developed a significant
bioenergy economy.
The first study sites were in the Pielinen Karelia region, with the
tour beginning with Kuittila Farm, which has been producing its
own electricity and heat since using a Combined Heat and Power
(CHP) unit since winter 2012. Following a visit to a woodfuel
harvesting site, the group proceeded to the Nurmes district heating
plant where participants learned about the development and
management of district heating and gained an understanding of
the benefits of this biomass fuelled system.
On the second day of the tour BioPAD visited the Tulikivi company
which produces high quality, high value soap-stone fireplaces for
the global market. Soapstone has considerable heat retention
properties making it a useful material for fireplaces and stoves.
The final visit of the tour was to the Fortum Pyrolysis oil plant, a
component of the Joensuu Fortum CHP district heating plant.
Large-scale pyrolysis oil production is the biggest technological
advancement in bioenergy for Finland in the last decade. The
factory is producing bio-oil from woody biomass to substitute fossil
oils in heat production.
E-Zine
Spring 2014