Once completed, this will increase the offering for customers in Tartu with another product in addition to heat and electricity, which is currently produced by Fortum's local combined heat and power (CHP) plant. The first customer, who has already signed a contract with Fortum Tartu, is planned to be connected to the network already at the end of 2015.
The total cost of the investment is EUR 5.7 million including a new cooling plant with the capacity of 13MW and its connection to the customers with a 1.3 km long network. The plant will be located next to the Emajõgi river, which allows for the use of river-cooled chillers, which are part of a high performance production solution. Low water temperature during winters is used for natural cooling, which ensures high energy efficiency.
”With its dense population and high cooling demand, downtown Tartu is a very suitable area for the development of district cooling. There are plenty of businesses and shopping centers, which all need cooling,” says Margo Külaots, Country Manager, Fortum Estonia
Fortum and district cooling
Fortum has long experience in the field of district cooling both in Sweden and Finland. For example, in Stockholm, Sweden, Fortum has 9,500 business and residential customers in district heating and cooling. The over 200 km long district cooling network in Stockholm is larger than the district heating network in Tartu. Currently, in Tartu, there are approximately 800 business customers and 75,000 residential customers in district heating in Tartu.
District cooling has several advantages compared to other alternatives available on the market. Connecting a property to the district cooling network removes the need for refrigeration equipment and additional cooling units on roof tops. This frees up large amounts of space and brings significant savings for the property owners. District cooling is efficient, reliable and environmentally sustainable as it is based on durable industrial refrigeration and reduces CO2 emissions by 70% (6000 ton/year) as compared to the alternatives that can be used.