Nevel has invested in an air-to-water heat pump at its Linnavuori heating plant in Nokia, Finland. The investment will help Nevel’s industrial customers reduce the CO2 emissions of their operations and optimise their heating costs. The plant’s energy production is based on renewable energy. The heat pump expands the selection of energy sources with electricity.
The 1.5-megawatt air-to-water heat pump solution expands the capacity and diversity of heat production and helps reduce emissions. The availability and price of biofuel, which is commonly used in heat production, has fluctuated in recent years as has the price of electricity. The more energy sources available in production, the less the production costs depend on an individual fuel.
A heat pump investment can be implemented quickly. Nevel made the investment decision in May 2023 and the heat pump is scheduled to be commissioned by the end of the year. Customers have welcomed the hybrid solution as it supports their carbon-neutrality goals. Thanks to the modular technical implementation, the heat pump can be easily expanded as customers’ energy needs grow.
A sensible investment in the future
The growth plans of the businesses in the Linnavuori industrial area mean there is an increasing need for heating and cooling, which can be met responsibly with a clean production method. Companies can use the heat produced by Nevel for heating their buildings and processes and for cooling facilities such as data centres. The solution can also be combined with comfort cooling of premises, which is a valuable feature in increasingly hot summers.
There is a lot of demand for the new solution as customers want to reduce their emissions responsibly and to further increase the predictability of heating costs.
Automation enables cost optimisation
The air-to-water heat pump can also be programmed to follow the spot prices of electricity on the power exchange market in order to take advantage of low-price periods of electricity and use more biofuel when electricity is more expensive. This makes heat pump investments a viable option in Sweden too, where the price of electricity is on average higher than in Finland mainly due to tax reasons. A similar automation solution is in use at Nevel’s plant in Veitsiluoto, where the electric boiler is controlled according to the daily spot price forecast.
Air-to-water heat pump investments can also help reduce the costs of heating produced in municipal district heating networks. With a sufficiently long contract period, the investments are profitable, and the end customers enjoy sustainable heating and comfort cooling.
The air-to-water heat pump extracts heat from the outside air, which turns the refrigerant used in the pump into gas. The pump’s compressor increases the pressure of the gas, causing the gas to heat up. The heat is transferred to the district heating network or, if needed, it can be further heated in a bioboiler.
More information
Hanna Viita, Director, Sustainability and communications, Nevel, +358 40 167 1755
Nevel in brief
Nevel is a utility infrastructure company offering advanced industrial and real estate infrastructure solutions that are fit-for-purpose and future-proof. Committed to climate positive growth, we drive societal impact by co-creating local circular economies and driving transformation to carbon-neutral energy production. Nevel serves almost 100 industrial and over 5,000 real estate customers with decentralised energy and circular economy solutions. The company operates more than 130 energy production sites and manages over 40 district heating networks. Nevel has an annual turnover of EUR 115 million, and employs 190 experts in Finland, Sweden and Estonia.
