Hydrogen power plant produces sustainable energy in Finland

27 February 2007

The Joutseno plant was inaugurated by Mr. Mauri Pekkarinen, Ministry of Trade and Industry.

First in the Nordic countries
Hydrogen power plant produces sustainable energy in Finland

The first hydrogen power plant in the Nordic countries was taken in to use last autumn in Joutseno. The new power plant producing steam and electricity to the Finnish Chemicals factory is one of the cleanest power plants in the world.

The constructer of the power plant is FC Power Oy which is a joint venture of Finnish Chemicals part of Kemira Group and Leppäkosken Sähkö Oy, a Finnish energy company.

The fuel of the power plant comes from the Finnish Chemicals factory as a side product of the process that makes electricity production profitable.

The power plant produces approximately 50 GWh of steam and 30 GWh of electricity for the Finnish Chemicals factory. The amount of hydrogen electricity is almost 10 % of the factory's consumption. The degree of domestic origin of the power plant is 85 % and value is EUR 7.5 million.

Energy counsellor Pertti Leppänen chairman of the board of FC Power Oy considers the power plant is a good example of the decentralized energy production that has been able to done locally and environmental friendly.

The co-operation between Leppäkosken Sähkö and Finnish Chemicals started six years ago when Finnish Chemicals was looking for a partner to rebuild their old thermal power station used by hydrogen in Äetsä. That first joint power plant started production in 2003 in Äetsä. The power plant produces steam and heat. Steam is used for the Finnish Chemical factory. Heat is used for the district heating of Äetsä area.

The power plants in Äetsä and Joutseno use together 300 GWh hydrogen for the production of energy.

Joutseno plant's key figures

Steam boiler               18.6 MW
                                       60 bar
                                     500 C

Electricity capacity    4.5 MW
Process steam            10 MW