Payback time of 12 years on pipe renovations with optimized planning? Read how Turku Energia was able to do it.
In the interesting landscape of district energy, the pursuit of practical solutions remains crucial for enhancing efficiency and minimizing costs. Our recent exploration led us to Turku Energia, a municipality-owned energy distributor and producer in Finland, where we engaged in a conversation with Jani Uitti, their Senior Network Asset Manager. Together, we delved into the potential of integrating Fluidit Heat into their operations.
Turku Energia
Turku Energia boasts a century-long operational history, catering to over 200,000 inhabitants as one of Finland’s major energy utilities. Their services span electricity sales and distribution, district heating and cooling, and steam production. Notably, they handle the construction and maintenance of their networks in-house, emphasizing their commitment to seamless energy provision.
Jani Uitti, the driving force behind Turku Energia’s network assets, provided insights into the organization’s ethos. He highlighted the structured organizational framework at Turku Energia, where trust and responsibilities intertwine, fostering an environment that spurs improvements. Jani expressed his satisfaction, stating, “Here I can make an impact on the lives of citizens and see my own vision come true. It resonates with my value base.”
A Decade of Collaboration: From Consultancy to Fluidit Heat
Jani’s history intertwines with Fluidit’s journey. Having worked with Markus Sunela during their consultancy days over a decade ago, Jani envisioned a future collaboration. When Fluidit was established, he became one of the early adopters of Fluidit Heat in 2018. This laid the foundation for the strategic usage of Fluidit Heat, particularly in investment planning.
Turku Energia has utilized Fluidit Heat in investment planning, revealing oversized old pipings as a consistent challenge. Renovating these pipelines into smaller, optimized ones has resulted in significant cost savings in heat losses across their extensive network. Several million-euro renovation projects have demonstrated internal return rates (IRR) of 8-11%, with payback times as short as 12 years. The optimization of looped networks, facilitated by Fluidit Heat, has become integral to these successes.
Jani attests to Fluidit Heat’s exceptional performance, comparing it favorably to other software in handling large models and dynamic simulations. Fluidit Heat outpaced a competitor by completing 48 simulation steps in less than a minute, a task that took 15 minutes for the alternative software. With a district heating network stretching 650 km, encompassing 1300 km with supply and return, and 5000 connection points, Fluidit Heat proved to be the best solution due to its performance.
At Turku Energia, two users engage with Fluidit Heat daily, dedicating time to preplan upcoming service interruptions. This meticulous planning, part of their quality process, ensures that every change in the network is pre-simulated, minimizing inconveniences to customers.
Recommendation and Future Perspectives
At the moment Fluidit Heat is being used in investment pre-planning and service pre-planning, but the future aspirations for Jani and his team are much higher. They envision to integrate Fluidit Heat into their daily operational data to create real-time optimizations and unlock network accumulation possibilities. We at Fluidit are ready to support their journey on this task!
Overall, Jani recommends Fluidit as a company, praising their adeptness in fluid dynamics, constant development, and responsiveness to customer suggestions. Regarding the future of district energy, Jani foresees significant growth in Europe, particularly in the construction of new networks, driven by the shift away from natural gas. He also highlights the emerging importance of district cooling but foresees challenges in building new networks since they tend to be most effective in downtown areas and also require large pipes.
In conclusion, Jani Uitti’s experience with Fluidit Heat serves as a testament to its practical impact on Turku Energia’s operations. As the world adapts to evolving energy needs, Fluidit Heat emerges as a tool for efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and sustainable energy practices in a very tangible sense. In Jani’s words, cooperation with Fluidit is excellent and customer service is 5/5. The story of Turku Energia and Fluidit Heat exemplifies the pivotal role of functional solutions in shaping the future of district energy.
Read more about Fluidit Heat here.