Our recent audit shows that Padasjoki municipality can triple its renewable energy use in medium term. The potential is even bigger in Kuhmoinen.
In both municipalities, the most significant potential is derived from wind energy exploitation. Heat pumps and wood-based fuels can also be used more efficiently to replace oil heating in buildings outside the district heating network. Additionally, manure-based biogas can be utilized in heat and transport fuel production. Biogas plant could be cost-efficient investment especially in Padasjoki, since it has few major pig farms in the area.
In Kuhmoinen, fuel oil and electricity cover 65 % of the heating energy sources. In Padasjoki the share is about 50 %. The audit focused mainly on municipality-owned, oil-heated buildings, where environmental and economic benefits can be achieved by changing the heat source. For example in Kuhmoinen, 70 000 litres of oil can be replaced annually with renewable energy, if municipality-owned industrial building’s boiler is replaced with one that uses pellets as a fuel. Interest-free payback time for the investment was calculated to be around two years.
Padasjoki owns an apartment block that uses roughly 25 000 litres of oil annually. This building can be joined to district heating network with investment that has interest-free payback time of slightly over two years. More opportunities to increase the use of renewable energy sources and energy efficiency should be found within the private sector, which was not included in the study in detailed level. Interest-free payback times of proposals given in audits range mostly between two and six years.
Gaia does Renewable Energy Municipality Audits by Motiva’s specifications. Ministry of Employment and the Economy covers 60 % the audit costs for municipalities such as Padasjoki and Kuhmoinen that are part of Energy Efficiency Agreement.
More information:
- Senior Consultant Aki Pesola, Gaia, +358 50 543 1331
- Environmental Affairs Secretary Maria Virtanen, Municipality of Padasjoki, +358 40 589 1864
