ES25 EP Visit to Iru Power plant

The students visited the Iru Power Plant, which is the largest potential producer of thermal energy in Estonia and supplies heat to the cities of Tallinn and Maardu.

At first, the students were introduced to how thermal energy is produced at the Iru Power Plant and how the modern waste-to-energy unit operates, generating electricity and heat from mixed municipal waste.

An overview was given of how, with the completion of the Iru waste-to-energy unit, large-scale landfilling of mixed municipal waste in Estonia came to an end, as waste that would have otherwise gone to landfills was instead used as fuel.

Students found out that it has three power units: the primary fuel of the units 1 and 2 is natural gas and reserve fuel is fuel oil; unit 3 is mixed municipal waste. Total installed capacity is 207 MW of electricity, 661.5 MWth of hot water and 162 of MWth steam. In co-generation mode the heating capacity is 398 MWt. It supplies heat to several places, including central districts of Tallinn.

After the presentation, a guided tour took place, and the students were able to see with their own eyes how the Iru power plant operates.