Urban trash flames into energy

Photo: Andres Haabu / Postimees

Iru Power Plant has launched pilot incinerations, with no fear of running out of stuff to burn. Already, the waste-to-energy project has had to say no to some of the waste carriers.

Eesti Energia has emerged victorious from waste treatment procurement by Tallinn city government, meaning that North-Tallinn’s waste, for instance, is taken straight to Iru by winning waste carrier Ekovir.

Already, the Tallinn city government is organising a new procurement. The Iru Power Plant development director Urmo Heinam, however, says they are still to decide whether to participate. «Some time ago, no-one had the confidence to promise us their waste. However, by now we find ourselves in a situation where more waste is offered than we are able to receive. Even today, some firms had to be turned away,» said Mr Heinam.

Mr Heinam added that this year’s waste plan is already fulfilled. «This is still a power plant, not a landfill – where one simply keeps the gates open and let them bring what they will. We have to forecast heat production, and as we have sold out heat in advance, we also need certainty and confidence when it comes to waste. Soon, Tallinn will have another contest. Just now we are considering, whether or not to participate. The city came out with it a little faster than we anticipated. We will have to think it over: will we have enough capacity to start receiving the added waste at once,» explained Mr Heinam.

Waste comes to Iru from all over Estonia. «Most of the waste is from Tallinn and its surroundings. However, there are regions in Estonia with no waste treatment centres nearby. From Viljandi, for instance, waste is taken straight to Paide or Tallinn. Once the waste is loaded onto a truck, it makes more economic sense for the company to take it here, rather to a landfill somewhere,» said Mr Heinam. Waste trucks of all sizes are coming through the power plant gates. One with three tonnes of trash may come rolling in from Tallinn. Another one with 25 tonnes may arrive, from a far corner of the country.

Although we are talking about a power plant, production of electricity is a trivial side matter. «Earlier, when gas and mazut used to cheaper, we also made electricity. But the last three-four years, electricity production has been extremely low – a few weeks a year, maybe days only. Most of the time, we produce heat,» said Eesti Energia’s board member Raine Pajo.

From Iru, the heat goes to Maardu, Lasnamäe and city centre. A couple of summers ago, the heating company Tallinna Küte connected the city centre and Mustamäe grids, giving the Iru heat access to Mustamäe and Õismäe as well.

«Up to now, we have been a heat producer. Two and a half years ago, we signed a waste bloc construction contract and now we have arrived at the point of trash flaming and water boiling. We still haven’t let steam into the turbine, but I hope within a month we can get the turbine spinning and also make electricity,» said Mr Pajo.

According to him, there are close to 400 waste-to-electricity/heat plants in Europe. «Down south, they burn the waste only to make electricity, for they have no need of heat. We have the advantage of also being able to produce heat, which comes three times more than electricity [from burning waste],» he added.

Even though waste carriers essentially supply the station with fuel, they still have to pay to deliver the trash. «It is an exceedingly costly project. Should anybody ask, whether there’ll ever come a day when people will actually be paid for their trash, then we answer: the thing is so expensive, so probably not. A third of the investment is for cleaning the environment. The ash created has to be treated, the smoke gases pass through an entire chemical plant before ending up in the chimney,» explained Mr Heinam.