Metso involved in green energy production
Kemijoki Oy in Rovaniemi, Finland, stood in front of the challenge of how to extend the life cycle of its turbines. Soon, the old turbine governor might have endangered the operation of the functioning hydropower. The company has chosen Metso DNA automation system to replace the logics and to increase the reliable supply of hydroelectric power in the power plants.
Pls feel free to ask for more information. We also appreciate your feedback in all automation related issues.
Hydropower is one of the green forms of energy, which is renewable and storable. So far, in Finland the market share of hydropower makes up about 20%. The number of the power plants is limited, and many of the power plants are already rather old. One way of increasing the efficiency of the existing hydropower plants is to exploit the solutions that automation technology offers nowadays.
Kemijoki Oy is Finland’s most significant producer of hydroelectric power and related services. The company owns 20 hydroelectric power plants. Most of them are situated on the Kemijoki River in the north, and a few on the Kymijoki River in Southern Finland. The Inkeroinen hydroelectric power plant with 17 MW was built in the 1920s – almost 100 years ago – and was extensively renovated in 1994. The Anjalankoski power plant with 20 MW was built in 1983. Both of them supply electricity to the national grid.
Now, three turbine governors consisting of logics at the Inkeroinen power plant and one turbine logic at the Anjalankoski plant will be replaced by a Metso DNA automation system, which will be used to manage, control, protect as well as optimize the water turbines. Metso will provide the system with updates and versatile services to support the investment life cycle.
Hydropower is a long-term project
| Once constructed, the hydropower plant will be a long-term project. To run the business successfully, you have to look towards the future, too. To secure the electricity business, Kemijoki Oy has chosen Metso’s solution for the turbines. “Metso is a strong player in the area and has local staff available,” explains Janne Ala, Power Plant Manager from Kemijoki Oy, about the decision to choose Metso as the supplier. According to Janne Ala, the automation solution has to be reliable and always available. Now, three water turbines will be equipped with Metso’s automation system during April – May and one in September 2012. | |
| According to Janne Ala, power regulation is very typical for hydropower. The process is possible to carry out efficiently with a reliable automation system. He emphasizes the importance of the control possibility during the day-to-day rhythm and especially during floods. The supplementary water can be stored in the reservoirs if no current need exists for electricity. Storage is not possible with any other energy forms. Due to its control characteristics, renewable, clean hydroelectric power offers a superior backup for the reliable supply of electricity and can also help manage sudden disturbances. The reliability of the turbine and its automation plays an important role in electricity generation. | |
Compact solution to replace the old logic
The delivery will include Metso’s ACN MR high performance modular rail-mounted controllers.
Pasi Voutilainen, Specialist from Metso, highlights the compact package of the new ACN MR process station type, which has the process station and the I/Os located in the same cabinet. Also, it features fast control cycles and one-to-one redundancy capability.
“It is challenging to replace old logic, since there is no longer documentation available from the 1920s,” states
Hermanni Välimaa, Head Designer, from Metso. “The work requires profound analysis to understand the initial data before starting with the new solution. Metso’s expertise in hydropower and knowledge from earlier references will help us to work out the best solution,” concludes Hermanni.
Jukka Kelloniemi, Automation Engineer, from Kemijoki Oy, participates in the factory acceptance test in Metso´s testing area. Every detail is carefully gone through with the project professionals. Kelloniemi is confident with the automation solution when stating: “The automation contributes a lot to the control and follow-up of the process. Especially, the history of the events can be traced, and gives us the opportunity of learning from the course of the events.”
Two professionals working together
Kemijoki Oy takes care of the electricity system maintenance. It is in their interest to serve customers, the local consumers and companies, in a reliable way. The consumption of energy newer stays the same, and as a professional, the company has to take that into consideration. Now two professionals, Kemijoki with its regulation skills and Metso with its automation skills, are working together to guarantee renewable energy to the customers.
Pls feel free to ask for more information. We also appreciate your feedback in all automation related issues.
For more information:
Heikki Mylläri
Sales Director, Metso Automation
heikki.myllari(at)metso.com
