District heating year 2009
Finnish Energy Industries
Press release
For publication 20 January
2010 10 a.m.
District heating year 2009
District heat sales reach new record
- consumption up by 10 percent
Reliability of district heat supply excellent
Finnish Energy Industries’ figures show that district heat sales rose
last year by ten percent on the year before. Consumption was almost equal to a
normal year and fell about two percent short of a normal year in terms of
temperature. District heat sales over the year totalled 31.3 billion kilowatt
hours (TWh), with a monetary value of EUR 1.76 billion.
Residential properties accounted for 56 percent of the district heat sales.
At the end of the year, there were 1.2 million residential properties with
district heating, with about 2.6 million people living in buildings with
district heating.
Most public buildings are connected to district heating networks. Almost half
of the heating energy requirement for all our buildings comes from district
heating. In the largest cities, more than 90 percent of the heating energy
requirement of the buildings is covered by district heating. Last year, a large
number of new clients, particularly those changing their method of heating, were
connected to district heating in many locations.
Three-quarters of district heating from combined heat and power
generation
Last year, the volume of district heat produced was 34.2 TWh. This is ten
percent more than the previous year. 73 percent of the district heat was
obtained from combined heat and power generation. Separate production of heat
only covered 27 percent of the total production. The share of separate
production increased because during the coldest periods, peak-load heating
plants are deployed to cover short-term peak capacity requirements. In 2009,
there were considerably more of these cold spells than the year before, both
early in the year and particularly in December.
The volume of CHP electricity was 14.8 TWh. This was about five percent more
than the year before. In combined heat and power generation, a third of the fuel
quantity is saved compared to when they are produced separately. The emissions
are reduced proportionally.
Carbon emissions up
Carbon dioxide emissions from district heat generation were 7.4 million
tonnes, increasing on the previous year by almost 12 percent. The bulk of the
growth was due to higher production volumes than the previous year and supply
problems with biofuels. The average emission was 218 g per produced kilowatt
hour, which is under 2 percent higher than the year before. The growth in
specific emission was mostly due to the increased use of peak-load heating
plants.
Natural gas still most important fuel
Natural gas was used to generate 35 percent of the district heat and CHP
electricity. The share fell by 1.5 percentage points on the previous year. The
share of coal was 26 percent. Its use rose by almost two percentage points. The
share of peat fell to 16 percent. The share of wood and wood residue and other
domestic renewable energy sources, such as biogas and secondary heat from
industry, remained almost at the levels of the previous year, or 14 percent. Oil
was used to produce 7 percent of the district heating.
Considerably more oil was used than in previous years. Peat use last spring
had to be replaced with oil. In addition, heat production in heating plants
during the cold spells was higher than in the previous year.
Price of district heat higher
The mean price of district heat, including the energy fee and power charge,
was 5.62 cents per kilowatt hour. The average price rose by 8.7 percent on the
previous year. The prices of fuels used in district heat production were still
high in the early part of the year, after which they partially began to fall.
Particularly the prices of wood fuels continued to rise sharply throughout the
year.
Taxes make up about 24 percent of the price of district heat. Generally, the
principal factor influencing the price level is the size of the district heating
system. In large conurbations, district heating is cogenerated economically with
electricity. Other factors contributing to the price level of district heating
include the fuels used, age of the plant, structure of the conurbation,
efficiency of investments, and the owner’s requirements with regard to
returns.
Reliability of district heat supply excellent
A district heat customer is likely to have his heating supply disrupted for
two hours a year on average. The reliability of district heat supply is 99.98
percent. The outages are caused by system breakdowns and repairing them. The
work of connecting new clients to the network and moving pipelines in
conjunction with road works may also cause supply interruptions. Most of the
supply interruptions are planned, i.e. the clients are notified in
advance.
Reliability of supply is excellent in Finland, even during spells of hardest
frosts. Heating outages caused by faults in technical equipment usually affect a
very limited number of customers, and they are brief. The high security of
supply is the result of systematic quality control, upkeep and preventive
maintenance.
The district heating production capacity totals about 20,000 megawatts (MW).
The maximum output requirement of clients connected to the district heating
networks is about 16,800 MW.
Additional information:
Mirja Tiitinen, Adviser,
Tel. +358 (0)50 434 6994
Jari Kostama, Director, Tel. +358
(0)50 301 1870
District heating year 2009 ppt
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Other ENERGY YEAR 2009 Press releases