HELSINKI, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- Finnish energy company Vantaa Energy announced on Wednesday that its new waste-to-energy plant has started to go into operation in Vantaa, a city next to the capital Helsinki.
The plant is believed Finland's biggest of its kind, as it is capable to produce 920 GWh of heat and 600 GWh of electricity each year by burning mixed waste collected from Uusimaa, a region that includes Helsinki and the surrounding areas.
The plant will produce half of the district heating and 30 percent of the electricity needed in Vantaa.
About 320,000 tons of waste will be processed in the plant every year. The waste will be combusted with grate-fired technology, which is a reliable and the most widely used waste combustion technology in the world.
Climate change mitigation is the key priority in Vantaa Energy's operation. The waste-to-energy plant is the company's great environmental commitment, said Pertti Laukkanen, CEO of Vantaa Energy.
The new plant will reduce Vantaa energy's use of fossil fuels for energy production by 30 percent, and cut the company's carbon dioxide emission by 20 percent per year. Editor: yan