Fortum invests in new waste-to-energy power plant in Klaipėda free economic zone

Fortum is building a new combined heat and power plant in Klaipeda, Lithuania. The value of the investment is around EUR 140 million. Purchasing of main equipment has been now agreed and the power plant will be completed for production by January 2013.

The new power plant will use municipal and industrial wastes and biomass as fuels. The production capacity will be approximately 50 megawatts (MW) heat and 20 MW electricity. The district heating will be sold to Klaipedos Energija and the electricity will be sold to the national grid.

Heat production of the plant will replace production in old natural gas fired heating plants of Klaipedos Energija. The transfer to combined heat and power generation will considerably increase energy efficiency compared with the separate generation of heat. In addition, the CO2 emissions of the heat production in the area will reduce significantly.

The plant is the first waste-to-energy plant in the Baltic countries and will be an essential element in waste management of the Klaipeda region significantly reducing the need to deposit wastes in the landfill.

The investment is an important part of Fortum strategy to grow in combined heat and power production and a further step in the growth in the Baltic Rim area. Fortum is one of the leading companies in environmentally benign and highly efficient combined heat and power production and is the leading company in Nordic countries in waste-to-energy production.