September 03, 2026 – Espoo, Finland -- Valmet will supply a flue gas condensing plant to Helen's Salmisaari K6 pellet heating plant in Helsinki, an order booked in Valmet's second-quarter 2026 order intake with commercial start-up scheduled for the second half of 2027.
Helen targets more heat output from existing biomass fuel volumes
The system recovers heat previously lost in flue gases, converting water vapor from combustion into usable thermal energy that is fed back into Helsinki's district heating network. This raises district heat output without increasing pellet consumption, supporting Helen's goal of maximizing renewable energy yield and cutting emissions in its heat production. Helen aims for net-zero emissions by 2040.
"Improving the efficiency of heat recovery from flue gases will increase the efficiency of the Salmisaari pellet-fired heating plant and enable us to get more energy from renewable fuel for the city's residents," said Juhani Aaltonen, Senior Vice President, Clean Transition Investments, Helen.
New unit links to district cooling network to cut flue gas temperature below 10 degrees
The flue gas condensing plant will be connected to Helen's district cooling network, a design that lowers final flue gas temperatures to below 10 degrees Celsius without separate heat pumps. Heat captured through the cooling network will be transferred to the district heating system using Helen's existing heat pump infrastructure, extracting additional value from a single combustion process.
Valmet completes full heat recovery integration across Salmisaari K6 and K7 units
As the original supplier of the Salmisaari K6 and K7 process systems, Valmet will integrate the new condensing equipment into the existing infrastructure, completing maximized heat recovery across both plant units. The delivery covers a complete flue gas condensation plant and associated building.
"Improving energy efficiency is one of the most effective ways for energy producers to increase the value of their existing plants," said Lari-Matti Kuvaja, Director, Environmental Solutions, Pulp, Energy and Circularity, Valmet. The order value was not disclosed.