LEMENE project to receive 6 gas engines from Austria

Austrian gas engine manufacturers INNIO on Monday announced that it will supply six Jenbacher gas engines for the LEMENE microgrid project in Finland, helping the Finnish government reach its climate goal of having 100 percent of its energy come from renewable sources by 2030.

The LEMENE flagship project will be the largest energy self-sufficient business district using renewable energy in Finland,said INNIO in a press release.

The combined heat and power (CHP) plant will enhance the security of the electricity supply in the Marjamäki area, located close to the city of Tampere, and the thermal energy will be used for district heating.

“The LEMENE project is key to helping the Finnish government reach its national energy decarbonization goals and to make the Marjamäki industrial district energy self-sustaining. We chose Jenbacher gas engines because of INNIO’s long-standing experience with gas engines, especially with burning greener gases such as biomethane. These six gas engines will provide the district with reliable, efficient and economically friendly power and heating,” said Toni Laakso, chief executive officer, Lempäälän Energia Ltd.

Located in the Marjamäki industrial area in the Lempäälä municipality, the LEMENE microgrid project will have a variable renewable energy source as twin 2-megawatt (MW) solar power plants. The six gas engines, with a total capacity of 8.1 MWs, are the key elements providing secure energy as the solar power production varies.

The microgrid also comprises a fuel cell solution—providing a total of 130 kilowatts—and a battery to even out temporary fluctuations in energy production. INNIO’s three Jenbacher J416 and three Jenbacher J420 CHP units will run on natural gas or biomethane as available to make the gas engine a CHP carbon-neutral solution.

The six Jenbacher engines will be installed at four different sites located in close proximity to each other, connected together with the solar plants, the fuel cells and the battery storage system to a microgrid system. The energy self-sufficient local grid operates mainly as part of the public electrical grid, but it can also operate as a supporting reserve system for the public electrical grid, or as an independent off-grid, on-demand system. The heat from the gas engines is provided to the local district heating network.

"Our Jenbacher Type 4 gas engines are energy-efficient options to generate electricity and utilize waste heat while reducing CO2 emissions with high reliability and availability. The LEMENE microgrid project is a unique and independent energy self-supporting plant that is an example of the future of power generation. With the growing biomethane availability, more and more of our gas engines are becoming a source for renewable, dispatchable power generation,” said Carlos Lange, President and CEO of INNIO.

The LEMENE project is one of 11 key energy projects in 2017 that have been granted an investment aid from the Finnish Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment. The total amount of aid allocated for key energy projects in 2017 was €39.7 million of which the LEMENE project was granted €4.97 million. The Finnish government allocated a total of €100 million for renewable energy and new technology investments for 2016 to 2018.