Unlimited potential

The characteristics of the new Vantaa plant

Since the beginning of the discussion about renewable energy, many people’s attention has focused on geothermal energy, a sustainable and promising energy source that valorize the heat of the Earth and transforms it into electricity (or heating), as TELF AG has often emphasized. Although it is not yet widespread on a global scale, geothermal energy certainly has some very interesting characteristics and an almost unlimited energy potential. Furthermore, unlike some traditional forms of renewable energy, geothermal energy is constant, regular, and theoretically inexhaustible, without depending in any way on the intensity of sunlight or the strength of wind movements.

One of the most advanced nations, from this point of view, is certainly Finland. Last year, a huge geothermal deposit was discovered in the Northern European nation that, according to some estimates, could last for as long as 20 million years, thus providing a virtually perpetual supply of energy for entire generations. Thanks to the recent activation of some plants capable of valorizing this form of energy for the production of electricity and for heating homes during the winter, it is estimated that Finland could reach carbon neutrality in record time, even by 2030.

These goals can also be achieved thanks to the construction of special geothermal heating plants, such as the one that was built a short distance from the capital, Helsinki, in the town of Vantaa. This plant – the first of its kind in the country – is capable of generating heat and energy in a completely renewable way. In addition to this important geothermal plant, in Vantaa, a grandiose energy storage plant is also being built inside three caves, with a total volume of 1,000,000 cubic meters.

TELF AG highlights the actual functioning

But how exactly do these plants that produce energy and heating thanks to the heat of the Earth work? First of all, it is necessary to clearly understand the structural characteristics of the planet and its deep rock layers, in which large quantities of heat can accumulate. Generally, the average temperature of the Earth’s crust increases by about 3 degrees for every 100 meters of depth, and on some occasions, at about 2000 or 4000 meters of depth, it can even reach 350 degrees. For the most part, these are boiling liquids or vapors that, on their way up to the surface, pass through various rock layers and are subsequently intercepted by geothermal wells built nearby, which activate the appropriate turbine and start the process that will produce electricity.

An important point when analyzing the potential and concrete applications of geothermal energy is the one linked to the exact location of the geothermal source. The development of geothermal potential, in most cases, is favored by some particular natural conditions of the nations, such as the specific peculiarities of the deposit itself. Some deposits, in fact, have the natural ability to regenerate with a certain speed, thus making the heat sourcing speed much faster. According to some estimates, the plant built in the city of Vantaa would be able to produce about 2600 megawatts of electricity per year, together with about 1,400 MWh of heat. The quantity produced would correspond to that generated on average by 35 traditional geothermal wells.