Haparanda

Haparanda

The thermal power plant in Haparanda provides 90% of the urban area of Haparanda with district heating. The production plant in Haparanda is jointly owned by Vattenfall and Haparanda Municipality. Vattenfall operates and maintains the plant.

Producing heat from biomass

The fuel used to produce heat in Haparanda mainly consists of wood chips and bark from the surrounding forests as well as peat from marshland in the east of Norrbotten County. 50% of the total heat production is imported from Finland through a pipeline across the border.

Through an investment, made in 2007, in a 2 MW boiler capable of burning pellets, Haparanda has reduced its need to use oil and has thus decreased carbon dioxide emissions. Wood pellets are used during periods of high demand for heat. Fossil fuels, such as oil, now only have to be used in peak-load periods during cold snaps in the winter. The fossil fuels used correspond to roughly 1% of the annual heat production in Haparanda.

The ash that arises from the heat production has a variety of uses, for example as topsoil in the establishment and cultivation of large areas of grass.

Haparanda is Reko-certified

The Swedish trade organisation Svensk Fjärrvärme has developed a quality assurance system called Reko for suppliers of district heating. Vattenfall’s district heating has met the requirements of this quality system since 2006. The purpose of the Reko certification is to strengthen the position of customers and to improve the relationship between customers and suppliers. The focus is on openness, comparability and trust.

When it comes to customer satisfaction, Haparanda ranks highly in comparison with the rest of Sweden and its ranking has increased during recent years.