Increasing output capacity at our power plants also improves our energy efficiency.
Fortum has some 30 projects under way every year to improve energy efficiency. Improvements to hydropower and nuclear power production efficiency and increases to output capacity have a very important role as they add to our CO2-free electricity production.
Energy efficiency targets for 2008-2016
Our targets for 2008-2016 include annual improvements in energy efficiency at Fortum's Finnish power and heat plants by 600,000 MWh, i.e. an amount equivalent to the annual production of 240 windpower plants (2500 MWh per plant per year).
Hydropower refurbishment projects and heat recovery measures in Kuusamo, Nokia and the Suomenoja CHP plants as well as the Ecotuning™ project at the Kauttua power plant were among the energy-efficiency improvement projects implemented in 2011. Additionally, the optimisation of the district heat networks continued in Stockholm, where Fortum produces about 650 GWh of heat by recovering heat from flue gases.
All Fortum’s power plants in Finland are within the scope of the energy efficiency agreement between the Confederation of Finnish Industries EK and the Ministry of Employment and the Economy. The agreement covers e.g. the annual planning and drafting of the energy efficiency programme, follow-up monitoring and annual reporting to Motiva, and training of the entire plant personnel.
The Power Division’s energy efficiency programme, for example, covers the power plants subject to the Finnish energy efficiency agreement and our Swedish hydropower plants. Other divisions also have their own projects to improve energy efficiency and increase CO2-free production. For instance, the power plant modernisation programmes and the investments in new technology and capacity within the framework of our investment programme in Russia will improve energy efficiency when completed.
Employees in a key position
Optimising energy efficiency takes the effort of every Fortum employee because we all can make improvements in our own consumption of energy. In addition to improving energy efficiency at our own power plants, we offer consulting services for energy efficiency improvements also for our customer companies.