HELSINKI, Finland – Paulig has achieved the energy efficiency targets with the Vuosaari property four years ahead of time. The targets are based on the energy efficiency agreement of Finland’s governmental sustainable development company Motiva. The Vuosaari property houses the head office of Paulig, and a coffee roastery where 100 million coffee packages and over 200 different products are produced annually.
The coffee roastery has been carbon neutral since 2020, and the property’s unique waste heat recovery project was awarded in the Energy Genius of the Year 2020 competition.
Paulig’s energy efficiency target was to reduce the energy consumption of the Vuosaari property by 7.5% (1,946 MWh) by the end of 2025, in comparison to the 2016 levels. The target was achieved four years ahead of time, and now the savings accumulated in comparison to the levels of 2016 are almost 10% (2,589 MWh).
The savings were made possible especially by Paulig’s determined and persevering work towards energy efficiency. Efficiency has been improved by the new practice of recovering and utilizing thermal energy. Additionally, a shift to renewable sources of energy has been made; biogas, as well as electricity and district heat from renewable sources of energy is used at the property.
“We are very happy and proud of the achievements with Vuosaari. We have one of Europe’s most modern coffee roasteries, and the work to improve energy efficiency is ambitious. Paulig’s target is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from its own operations by 80% by 2030. Improving our properties’ energy efficiency is central here”, says Paulig’s Facility & Security Manager Timo Tuukkanen.
Recovering waste heat
Waste heat recovery at Vuosaari began at the end of 2020. In the first phase, utilizing waste heat from the roastery’s roasting machines by recovering it and directing it to the district heating network of the energy company Helen was begun. The solution is unique and the first of its kind in the Helsinki metropolitan area. The unique project was awarded a prize at the Energy Genius of the Year 2020 competition organized by the Ministry of Employment and the Economy, the Finnish Energy Authority and the governmental sustainable development company Motiva.
The amount of energy recovered from the Vuosaari roastery is significant, as it would be sufficient to cover the heating of 1,000 two-room flats for a year.
In the second phase of utilizing the waste heat, the utilization of the condensed heat from air compressors was begun. This thermal energy is directed directly towards heating the Vuosaari property.
“Thanks to the air compressor waste heat project, our need to purchase district heat was reduced over 40% in 4 months. We have achieved excellent results through strong and committed sustainability work, and we plan to continue to utilize innovative ideas,” Tuukkanen continues.
The energy efficiency work is still ongoing, and Paulig has ambitious targets to improve it even further. Currently, the possibility to utilize the waste heat from the refrigerating machines is being investigated at Vuosaari.
In total, the emissions of the roastery building have been reduced by 98 percent since 2014, and it received the CarbonNeutral® certificate on carbon neutrality in 2020. The remaining emissions have been compensated through third-party verified forestry projects.
