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Valmet to supply automation technology for Finnish data center excess heat recovery project

Valmet is supplying its Valmet DNA Automation technology to the data center heat recovery concept developed by Fortum and Microsoft.

Image © Jan Dzacovsky - stock.adobe.com.

Valmet DNA will control water-to-water heat pumps, air-to-water heat pumps and two electric boilers at two Fortum Power and Heat Oy’s heat pump plants which will be built in Espoo and Kirkkonummi, Finland.

The heat pump plants will recycle emission-free excess heat from Microsoft’s two planned large data center areas to Fortum’s existing district heating network. The data centers will eventually provide 40% of the consumed heat in the network area. Fortum’s district heat in Finland will be produced coal-free during 2024 and carbon-neutrally before 2030.

”The excess heat offtake project from Microsoft’s data center areas is our flagship project in decarbonizing our district heat production,” said Teemu Nieminen, director project execution at Fortum’s Heating and cooling business in Finland. “We wanted to ensure that the automation technology partner is reliable and has the exact solutions we need. Valmet has a convincing track record in our other production sites, which made our choice quite straightforward.”

“We are excited to be involved in turning Fortum’s district heat production carbon neutral in Finland,” says Tom Bäckman, Sales Manager, Automation Systems, Valmet. “The heat pump plants are part of Fortum’s district heating system, including the Suomenoja power plant in Espoo that has been running with Valmet’s automation for years. In the future, the new plants can be controlled and monitored remotely from the Suomenoja power plant. We have earlier supplied similar Valmet DNA Automation Systems to Fortum’s Vermo 2 and Mankkaa heat pump plants.”

Valmet’s total scope of delivery will include Valmet DNA Automation Systems and Valmet DNA User Interface both to the Kolabacken heat plant in Kirkkonummi and the Hepokorpi heat plant in Espoo.