Challenging, but No Disaster: “Heating Delivered as Normal”

Around 200 customers in Mo i Rana receive heating from Mo Fjernvarme. These include housing cooperatives, commercial buildings, public buildings, hospitals, care homes, and industrial customers both inside and outside Mo Industrial Park. So what happens when production stops at the largest heat source in the industrial park?

“We have an obligation to supply heat, and we deliver. Customers do not need to worry about losing their heating,” says Terje Sund-Olsen, Market Manager and Acting Managing Director of Mo Fjernvarme.

His most important message is that customers do not notice any difference.

“Hospitals and nursing homes must have heating. There is no alternative. That is why we are required to maintain sufficient backup capacity to supply all customers even if our largest heat source fails,” Sund-Olsen explains.

The largest source is surplus heat from Elkem Rana. When that source is unavailable, reserve and peak-load boilers take over.

“We have several boilers we can switch between, including electric boilers, CO gas, and liquid fuel. What we use depends on factors such as electricity prices and demand. Right now, electricity is the cheapest option. A week ago, it wasn’t.”

Circular Heating in Practice

Under normal conditions, the base load comes from exhaust gases from Elkem’s smelting furnaces. The hot gas passes through Mo Fjernvarme’s heat recovery boiler before continuing to the cleaning system.

“In practice, we are performing a cooling job for Elkem. The exhaust gas must be cooled before entering their filtration facility. At the same time, we recover energy that would otherwise be wasted. It is a textbook example of industrial energy utilization,” says Sund-Olsen.

He describes it as an excellent example of circular thinking within the industrial community.

“It is a win-win situation. We get our raw material, and Elkem gets its exhaust gas cooled. Many people look to Mo i Rana and the industrial park for exactly these kinds of solutions.”

Mo Fjernvarme’s two heat recovery boilers at Elkem have an installed capacity of 22 MW. During the coldest days in February, demand in the city can reach as high as 35 MW.

“At that point, we need to use peak-load heating. That is completely normal. What has been unusual recently is that we have gone through a period without base load while temperatures were low and electricity prices were high. It has been financially demanding, but not catastrophic overall.”

Fixed Prices and Reliable Delivery

Fortunately, the situation experienced in February and March is quite rare. Both smelting furnaces at Elkem being shut down simultaneously for an extended period does not happen often.

“The last time was in 2005. More than 20 years ago. So this is far from a normal situation.”

What does this mean for customers? A small number of customers have so-called interruptible agreements, meaning they can be disconnected or face price adjustments in special situations. For the vast majority, fixed-price agreements apply.

Sund-Olsen concludes with what he considers the most important point:

“We truly hope Elkem finds solutions and restarts production soon, but the current situation does not affect our customers in terms of either delivery or price. That is important to emphasize.”

This article was originally written in March. Since the beginning of April, both furnaces at Elkem and both of Mo Fjernvarme’s heat recovery boilers have returned to full operation. Production for the remainder of the year is therefore expected to continue as normal.

Categorised in: Industripark News