Fortum inaugurates Baltic’s first waste-to-energy CHP power plant

Finnish engineering company Fortum has inaugurated the first waste-to-energy combined heat and power plant in the Baltic countries.

The plant, in Klaipeda, Lithuania, has been co-financed with a €70m ($90m) loan from Nordic Investment Bank.

The plant uses municipal and industrial waste as well as biomass as fuels to provide district heating to residents and businesses in Klaipeda and electricity to the Lithuanian power grid.

Fortum’s chief financial officer Markus Rauramo said: "Using sorted waste as fuel in combined heat and power production is a sustainable solution for urban areas. It offers a cost-efficient answer to energy and waste management needs alike, and helps to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions compared to depositing waste in landfills."

The plant's boiler can incinerate 230 000 tonnes of waste and biomass a year. The plant will produce approximately 380 GWh of heat and 120 GWh of electricity a year, which covers approximately 40 per cent of Klaipeda's district heating demand.