{"id":57208,"date":"2024-05-07T10:18:00","date_gmt":"2024-05-07T07:18:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sweco.fi\/?post_type=showroom_cpt&p=57208"},"modified":"2024-05-07T10:18:01","modified_gmt":"2024-05-07T07:18:01","slug":"epv-solar-powers-record-breaking-solar-farm-will-be-built-sustainably-on-a-former-peat-bog","status":"publish","type":"showroom_cpt","link":"https:\/\/www.sweco.fi\/en\/projects\/epv-solar-powers-record-breaking-solar-farm-will-be-built-sustainably-on-a-former-peat-bog\/","title":{"rendered":"EPV Solar Power’s record-breaking solar farm will be built sustainably on a former peat bog"},"content":{"rendered":"
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EPV Solar Power’s record-breaking solar farm will be built sustainably on a former peat bog<\/h1>\n

In 2025, one of the largest solar parks of EPV Aurinkovoima Oy, one of Finland’s largest peat production areas, will be completed in Heinineva in Lapua. From the very beginning, the work of Sweco’s solar energy designers was guided by the customer’s uncompromising desire to investigate things thoroughly. It also ensured a sustainable and cost-effective outcome.<\/em><\/p>\n

EPV Energia is one of Finland’s largest producers of wind power, and now its subsidiary EPV Aurinkovoima Oy is planning the first solar farm in Heinineva in Lapua. It will be Finland’s largest solar power plant built in a unified area, where solar panels will fill a former peat production area of approximately 120 hectares.<\/p>\n

“Our goal is to produce carbon-neutral electricity for our owner companies, i.e. electricity companies across Finland,” says Jani Aurell<\/strong>, Electrical and Automation Manager at EPV Energia Oy. The park’s peak power (MWp) of approximately 100 megawatts will produce the average annual electricity consumption of approximately 6,000 detached houses or approximately 20,000 electric cars. The park will increase EPV’s renewable electricity production by approximately 6 per cent, and CO2 emissions will decrease proportionately.<\/p>\n

Aurelli was immediately convinced by Sweco’s solar energy experts <\/a>in the preliminary and concept design. “The designers took over, asked us for clarifications and started to take the work forward. Instead of just transcribing ideas, they gave us real know-how.”<\/p>\n

Placing a solar park in a peat bog saves nature<\/h2>\n

In addition to Heinineva, EPV owns peat bogs elsewhere in southern Ostrobothnia. According to Sweco’s energy expert Elis Pet\u00e4j\u00e4<\/strong> , locating an extensive solar park in a peat bog is in many ways an environmentally sustainable and sensible choice.<\/p>\n

“There is a lot of uniform surface area, and there are no shading trees or structures. In addition, there is no need to cut down forests in peat bogs to make way for the power plant or transport connections, because the service roads are ready.”<\/p>\n

A special feature of peat bogs is the consideration of fire safety, especially during design and construction. Aurell emphasises that the further the design and construction progress, the more laborious and expensive the modification work becomes. Therefore, cooperation with fire authorities began early on in the project.<\/p>\n

“The fire authorities brought many good perspectives and ideas to our project to improve fire safety. A dry peat bog is fire-sensitive during peat extraction, but when\u00a0 the solar park is completed, the surface of the peat bog will gradually become covered with vegetation. Hardened bark peat no longer buzzes, and the risk of fire drops considerably.”<\/p>\n

The concept of the solar power plant was designed in detail<\/h2>\n

EPV’s thoroughness in terms of design is indicated by the fact that the concept plan was supplemented with a maintenance concept plan. It warmed the designer’s heart to be able to fine-tune the details of the solar park, starting when the panels arrive at the Port of Vaasa.<\/p>\n

“The customer wanted to think carefully about how the maintenance of the power plant should be arranged, and we were able to think step by step about the installation schedule and work phases of construction, as well as logistics, including service routes and parking areas,” Pet\u00e4j\u00e4 says. “At the same time, the customer was really open to suggestions on what would be best and most efficient.”<\/p>\n

For Aurelli, it’s all about quality and reliability. “Heinineva Park is huge, so if we make a systematic mistake in the early stages of planning, it will later scale many times over.”<\/p>\n

From the very beginning, the customer’s wish was to establish a solar power plant on a floating structure, with installation scaffolding and solar panels resting along the ground on concrete beams on their sides Information on soil behaviour was obtained from a two-row demo power plant implemented by EPV. “The floating structure proved to be clearly more cost-effective than bored piling,” Aurell says.<\/p>\n

Pet\u00e4j\u00e4 considers EPV to be a pioneer in large solar power projects. “The Heinineva project proves that establishing a solar park in a peat bog is possible and profitable.”<\/p>\n

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All 140,000 solar panels were recorded in the coordinate system<\/h2>\n

The innovative nature of the project is not limited to the method of establishment, but the park will test, for example, new types of inverter technology and directional scaffolding that follow the solar cycle. In addition, coordinates have been calculated for the concrete beams of each panel, with which they are installed in place using modern lifting excavators.<\/p>\n

“The same coordinate number sequence helps to distinguish each panel of different blocks from approximately 140,000 other panels, which makes maintenance much easier,” Pet\u00e4j\u00e4 says. When placed in a row, the panels would form a 100-kilometer-long queue, so finding a broken panel on foot or on an ATV would be a huge job. “Among other things, drones equipped with thermal imaging cameras will be utilised in maintenance.”<\/p>\n

The first solar panels may be connected to the grid as early as the end of 2024, and the entire project will be completed a year later. The Heinineva solar power project has been granted EUR 12 million in NextGenerationEU funding from the European Union. The total budget of the project is approximately EUR 64.5 million.<\/p>\n

Pictures: EPV Energia Oy<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n

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