Waste-to-Energy at our district heating site in Säffle, Sweden

Adven – Partnership stories – Waste-to-Energy at our district heating site in Säffle, Sweden
24th January 2023
Partnership stories District heating

In Säffle, we have rebuilt our plant into a state-of-the-art heating plant to ensure sustainable district heating in the municipality for decades to come. The new boiler will be able to handle several types of recycled fuels and can at the same time meet the ever-increasing environmental requirements of the future. This placed high demands on both competence and complex technology and was an investment of EUR 28 million. Usually, this type of plant is built on a much larger scale, but we wanted to show that it is possible to invest big even in a small plant.

When the waste heat from the nearby industry in Säffle decreased we had to act. The waste heat had been a vital part of our fuel mix and running the plant on only oil and pellets wasn’t a sustainable option. Instead, we built a flexible plant that can utilize different kinds of renewable and recycled energy sources – ensuring sustainable district heating in the municipality for decades to come.

We started the construction process in 2020, in November 2021 the first district heating was produced from the new boiler and at the end of 2022 we took over the plant. At the opening ceremony January 19 2023, the County Council and the Chairman of the Municipal Board were present and inaugurated the new plant. In their speeches they reflected on how important district heating and this plant is for the local society.

– This flexible plant strengthens Säffle but it also strengthens Sweden by showing that a robust energy solution is possible even in a smaller city, says County Council Emma Spak.

By rebuilding our plants to handle for example recycled energy sources such as RDF (refuse-derived fuels) we are not just making energy out of waste – avoiding landfill and detoxifying society – we are also driving the energy transition.

Description of technical solution

-New base load solution for district heating network.
– Waste to Energy plant of 10 MW th output
– Hot water boiler with water cooled hybrid combustion grate, flue gas treatment incl. bag house filter and SCR.
– Fuel flexibility of recycled fuel, such as RDF or waste wood.
– Fuel bunker 1900 m3 with separate crusher.
– Hot water accumulator, 2300 m3