{"id":14350,"date":"2020-05-12T16:24:19","date_gmt":"2020-05-12T13:24:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sweco.fi\/?p=14350"},"modified":"2022-12-05T18:35:38","modified_gmt":"2022-12-05T16:35:38","slug":"sweco-carried-out-an-extensive-survey-on-geothermal-heat-potential-in-helsinki-first-of-its-kind-in-finland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sweco.fi\/en\/ajankohtaista\/news\/sweco-carried-out-an-extensive-survey-on-geothermal-heat-potential-in-helsinki-first-of-its-kind-in-finland\/","title":{"rendered":"Sweco carried out an extensive survey on geothermal heat potential in Helsinki \u2013 first of its kind in Finland"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Sweco carried out an extensive survey on geothermal heat potential in Helsinki \u2013 first of its kind in Finland<\/h1>\n

The City of Helsinki is currently in the process of preparing a new underground master plan. By 2050, Helsinki will have 200,000 more residents than it does now, which must be taken into account in all energy and land use planning. This is why the City commissioned Sweco to carry out Finland\u2019s first extensive survey on the potential of geothermal heat.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The City of Helsinki aims to reduce its emissions by 60% by 2030. Geothermal heat has also been integrated into the Carbon Neutral Helsinki 2035 Action Plan.<\/p>\n

\u201cCarrying out a survey on geothermal heat became necessary while we were preparing the planning principles and policies of the new underground master plan,\u201d says Project Manager\u00a0Pekka Leivo<\/strong>\u00a0from the City of Helsinki\u2019s Technical and Economic Planning Unit.<\/p>\n

The purpose of the geothermal heat survey is to steer the planning of geothermal wells in Helsinki. One of the unanswered questions was how the utilisation of geothermal heat relates to the inner city\u2019s constantly growing need for underground construction. \u201cWe also assessed how much of the city\u2019s total heating needs could be covered with geothermal heat,\u201d states land use specialist, Architect\u00a0Maritta Heinil\u00e4<\/strong>\u00a0from Sweco.<\/p>\n

New kind of survey required multidisciplinary expertise<\/strong><\/p>\n

A survey of geothermal heat potential as extensive as this has never been prepared before, and the underground master plan is only the second of its kind: the first was prepared for the City of Helsinki in 2011. The information gathering was multi-staged and -layered.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn this type of work, it is essential to examine things from multiple perspectives. Sweco has very broad subject matter expertise in regard to land use planning and the background surveys needed for it,\u201d Leivo says.<\/p>\n

The Helsinki\u2019s new master plan defines further planning of underground spaces, such as tunnels, and how to densify the urban structure in Helsinki by transferring some functions underground.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe aim is to increase the use of underground space. The proposition of the new master plan is completed at the end of this year,\u201d adds\u00a0Eija Kivilaakso<\/strong>, Unit Manager from the City of Helsinki, responsible of the new master plan.<\/p>\n

The land use planning included environmental impact assessment and geographic information surveys. In addition to this, Sweco\u2019s experts also sought to resolve legal issues. \u201cThe equal treatment of landowners is very important in the planning of geothermal heat systems, as it is in all land use planning,\u201d Heinil\u00e4 emphasises.<\/p>\n

The survey also required extensive planning expertise in regard to geothermal heat and energy systems. \u201cWe carried out energy simulations and assessed total heating needs by examining single-family houses, offices and blocks of flats from different eras in different parts of Helsinki,\u201d says Sweco\u2019s Lifecycle Design Project Manager\u00a0Niina Laasonen<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The planning of geothermal wells was approached from a fresh angle. \u201cThe simulation of geothermal heat fields usually progresses one building at a time. Our survey, however, covered all of Helsinki, due to which we decided to examine entire blocks or residential areas at a time,\u201d says geothermal heating system specialist\u00a0Mika Penttinen<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Greatest geothermal heat potential found in the city\u2019s outskirts<\/strong><\/p>\n

Combining building services data with geographic information allowed the space requirements of geothermal heat systems to be compared to the objectives of Helsinki\u2019s master plan. This revealed the places with sufficient space for geothermal heat systems.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe greatest potential lies in single-family house areas,\u201d Laasonen says. The efficient building necessitated by the City\u2019s master plan is often at odds with the spatial requirements of geothermal heat systems. \u201cIn the inner city, building needs are so great that there is simply no room for geothermal heat systems. The same problems can be seen underground.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the survey, the optimal approach would be to consider energy production at the block level and also reserve space in the master plan for local energy solutions. \u201cLarge blocks could have their own geothermal heat centres, similar to transformer substations,\u201d Heinil\u00e4 says. \u201cPublic park areas could also be used for the more permissive placement of geothermal wells.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was an important discovery for us that focus should be shifted from property-specific geothermal heat systems to larger, local ones,\u201d Leivo states. \u201cThe information on the impact of building stock of varying ages on energy consumption is also important in regard to further planning.\u201d<\/p>\n

The building of geothermal wells must be started now<\/strong><\/p>\n

According to the survey, geothermal heat systems can help achieve Helsinki\u2019s climate goals and produce 14\u201318% of the city\u2019s heating needs by 2035. However, there is only enough geothermal heat capacity for this if heating needs are successfully kept at the current level.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf heating needs increase, the building of the necessary geothermal wells is estimated to take 18 years, in which case they will not be completed in time to contribute to the Carbon Neutral Helsinki objectives,\u201d Laasonen says. In other words, harnessing the potential of geothermal heat requires immediate action. \u201cIt is crucial to improve the energy efficiency of buildings and start the large-scale building of geothermal wells as early as this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Have you already found Sweco\u2019s Urban Insight reports on energy transition?\u00a0Read more!<\/a><\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The City of Helsinki is currently in the process of preparing a new underground master plan. By 2050, Helsinki will have 200,000 more residents than it does now, which must be taken into account in all energy and land use planning. This is why the City commissioned Sweco to carry out Finland\u2019s first extensive survey on the potential of geothermal heat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":14827,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"Extensive survey on geothermal heat potential in Helsinki","_seopress_titles_desc":"By 2050, Helsinki will have 200,000 more residents than it does now, which must be taken into account in all energy and land use planning. Sweco carried out Finland\u2019s first extensive survey on the potential of geothermal heat. Read more!","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[139],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14350","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sweco.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14350","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sweco.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sweco.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sweco.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/42"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sweco.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14350"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.sweco.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14350\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38595,"href":"https:\/\/www.sweco.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14350\/revisions\/38595"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sweco.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14827"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sweco.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sweco.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sweco.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}