Fitch downgrades Teollisuuden Voima to ‘BBB’, outlook stable
"TVO has signed a voluntary energy efficiency agreement for companies and adheres to the energy production action programme included in it. Before this, we already participated in the national energy saving agreement scheme and the energy efficiency system action programme for energy 2008," says Jaakko Tuomisto, manager of TVO's Power Matters office.
The agreement is a framework agreement between the business sector and the government on improving the energy use for the business sector in 2008–2016. The Ministry of Employment and the Economy, the Confederation of Finnish Industries EK and sector unions signed the framework agreement in late 2007. The improvement goal in energy use efficiency according to TVO's energy efficiency agreement is 340 GWh for 2008–2016. The efficiency improvement plan is valid until the end of the agreement period. TVO already reached its goal, 340 GWh electricity savings, i.e. the annual need of about 18,000 electrically heated homes, by the end of 2011. For all this work, an energy efficiency team has been assembled for TVO. The team coordinates the consideration and implementation of the system's requirements in the daily operations of TVO. The team meetings address and monitor the consideration of energy efficiency in modifications, informative presentations, training and the effective use of auxiliary energy. Energy-saving action is reported annually to the energy efficiency agreement monitoring system by the end of each February. "In addition to the production output, the modernization has also improved the energy efficiency of the plant units, and this is why the projects were also environmental projects. More electricity was obtained from the energy conversion process without additional consumption of primary energy. Improving the efficiency of TVO's plant is also nationally a major theme in the improvement of energy efficiency," says Tuomisto. Utilization of district heating in Olkiluoto Heat, which previously went out to the sea with the cooling water from plant units, is now utilized in the production of district heat. TVO has invested in district heating in its plant area because it is profitable. "We have had a very large number of facilities heated with auxiliary power. That said, the electricity we use ourselves, is always taken away from our owners who would get the market price for the same electricity. Calculated in this way, district heating is three times more energy-effective, which means that the investments are really paying off," says Tuomisto. "So far, TVO's repair shop, Visitor Center and Posiva's ONKALO area buildings have been connected to the district heating network. There is a review in progress on the district heating inclusion of the area located to the north from the plant area," says Tuomisto.
"As TVO is included in the energy efficiency system, TVO is committed to the continuous improvement of energy efficiency, such as improving the efficiency of the energy conversion process, reducing auxiliary power for the conversion process, improving the use of other energy, and communicating about energy efficiency. Energy efficiency is accounted for in all investments and it is part of the modification planning process," says Tuomisto.
"The energy efficiency system is integrated in TVO's ISO 14001 compliant environment system which is certified and EMAS-registered. Energy efficiency is also accounted for in the environmental principles of our social responsibility policy. Improving energy and material efficiency has been one of the main goals related to the environment and energy in 2011–2013," says Johanna Koskenranta, environmental engineer.
Energy efficiency from plant improvements
Over the decades, the OL1 and OL2 plant units have been systematically developed. The basic idea is to maintain the plant units so they are as good as new. Upgrades implemented between 2010 and 2012 further improved the nuclear power plant's safety, and the improved efficiency of the turbine islands increased the net electrical output of both plant units by around 20 megawatts. Both plant units now have a rated net electrical output of 880 MW, while the original output was 660 MW.
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