
By the shoreline of Lake Mälaren lays Stockholms first plant for combined heat and power production.The Hässelby plant was put into production in 1959. In the beginning the plant used oil and coal fuels, but since then three out of four boilers have been converted and today nearly 100 % of the production is based on wood pellets a bio fuel. Today the Hässelby plant produces electricity and heat for aprox. 60 000 households.
The CHP-plant in Hässelby produces electricity and heat. The Hässelby plant was put into production in 1959 and replaced a large part of Stockholms small oil fuelled boiler centrals with environmentally friendly electricity and district heating. A new era began in Stockholm when the plant was put into production.
In the beginning the demand for the heat and electricity that produced in the plant was low, but the plant was built for the future. Today more then 75 % of the real estate area in Stockholm is heated by district heating. Thanks to the Hässelby plant the air in western Stockholm is much cleaner compared to a individual heating solution was used.
Since 2004 the plant is connected to the wood chips fuelled Brista plant in the Sigtuna municipality through the northwestern district heating grid. The grid has a length of 264 kilometre and a total volume of 34 000 m3. Thanks to the connection it is possible to adapt the production of heat and electricity to the most favourable fuel for the moment. The grid supports the municipalities of Sigtuna, Arlanda, Upplands Väsby, Hässelby, Vällingby, Järvafältet and Sollentuna with district heating.
The Hässelby plant has four boilers. The three boilers P1-P3, built in 1959, are connected to the district heating grid. They have an effect of 100 MW each and have a steam turbine each. The fourth boiler P4, built in 1969, is only for electricity production and is since 1999 put in long term conservation.
District heating is good for the environment. A big plant can use the energy in a fuel much more efficient than many small plants. In a big plant it is also possible from an economical point of view to install equipment for purifying the fume gases. The plant is mainly using bio fuel with the effect that CO2 and sulphur pollution is considerably reduced. Environmental consideration is in the heart of the operation in Hässelby and the plant is environmentally certified in accordance to the ISO 14001 standard.
The plant in Hässelby has a long history but also an exciting future. Right now we are working on a project that will convert boiler 4 from fossil oil to bio- and recycled fuel. Ine the future the boiler will produce both heat and electricity. Since the purification process is very efficient in the plant there is many possibilities to use other fuels other then the wood pellets. Wood pellets is more suitable for private houses. In our constant quest for new fuels we are also looking at other fuel options for boilers 1-3, such as energy crops for instance.