Construction of Finland’s largest rock cavern heat storage facility starts

Helen is building Finland's largest heat storage facility in the old oil caverns in Mustikkamaa for the storage of district heat. Demolition work will start soon, and the construction work will start in early 2019. The rock cavern heat storage facility will

reduce Helen's carbon dioxide emissions by 21,000 tonnes per year.

In Mustikkamaa there are three underground rock caverns, which were excavated in 1982. They were used for storing heavy fuel oil until they were finally discharged and disused in 1999. Helen is now converting two connected caverns into Finland’s largest heat storage facility.

“Heat or surplus heat produced with a high efficiency rate will be stored in the facility when the heating need in Helsinki is not at its highest. The heat of the storage facility can be used throughout the year. Especially in the winter, it may not be necessary to start up heating plants operating on oil or gas. The heat storage facility therefore allows reduction in the use of fossil fuels. The use of renewable fuels and CHP electricity will also be increased at the same time,” explains Project Manager Päivi Saajoranta.

Based on computational comparisons with oil, the heat storage facility will reduce the use of fossil fuels by 1,000,000 litres of oil per year. The rock cavern heat storage facility will decrease Helen’s carbon dioxide emissions by 21,000 tonnes per year.

The Mustikkamaa rock cavern heat storage facility will hold over 40 times as much water as the pools in the Helsinki Swimming Stadium. The facility will be filled with water from the water supply network, which will take about three months.

The value of the investment is about EUR 15 million. The Mustikkamaa rock cavern heat storage facility will be completed for production use in summer 2021.

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