New heat pump investment brings Anora’s Koskenkorva plant a step closer to carbon neutrality

Feb 10, 2022

Anora’s Koskenkorva plant has invested in a new heat pump plant, which will improve the entire plant’s energy efficiency significantly in the future. The objective of the plant, which is based on circular economy, is carbon neutral production without carbon offset in 2025. With the implementation of the heat pump plant we strive for up to a 10 percent reduction in steam production and over a3,500 tonne reduction in CO2 emissions.

A degree of self-sufficiency of 65 percent has already been reached in steam production thanks to our biopower plant, which uses barley husk as its main fuel.

Heat pump plant implementation reduces the need for steam

The 3.5 megawatt heat pump plant that is being completed at Koskenkorva increases the energy efficiency of the plant area and substitutes the use of primary fuels. The heat pump plant includes condensers, evaporators and pumps. The heat pump recovers heat energy from the plant area’s circulating water, which is approximately 35 °C, and produces hot water of approximately 90 °C. This way, the temperature reaches a level where the heat can be recovered for production processes and be utilised, for example, in the drying process of barley starch. When using electricity, the heat pump produces approximately a 3.5-fold amount of heat energy thanks to the recovery process. Our objective is carbon neutral production, and we have already reached a 58 percent reduction in CO2 emissions when compared to 2014. The recycling rate of the plant is 99.5% — even the ash from the biopower plant is utilised in the fertiliser of a new barley crop. The objective of the heat pump investment is to reach a reduction of over 20 percent in the use of fossil fuels and to once again bring the plant area a step closer to carbon neutrality by year 2025. The investment has also been granted Business Finland’s energy saving and energy efficiency investment aid. The planning and design process of the building investment has also taken into account the Finnish Heritage Agency’s view on placing the buildings in a traditional factory environment.