HOPE project includes all the important players in the energy network from production to distribution and to demand. Oulun Energia and Fortum are the enablers of the research project as they provide the energy systems that can be used to do the research on. ABB provides a platform for the optimization of the energy system. The district heating systems in cities of Espoo and Oulu are used as pilot platforms for HOPE project.
Espoo
Espoo is the second largest city in Finland and is located next to the capital city of Helsinki. Espoo is accelerating the transformation of district heating to carbon-neutrality in 2020s together with Fortum. Target is to replace fossil fuels with smart and flexible solutions such as excess heat utilisation, renewable electricity, geothermal energy and bioenergy. Artificial intelligence will optimise the operations of the whole district heating system.
Read more about Espoo Clean Heat
Oulu
City of Oulu and Oulun Energia Ltd. are aiming to minimize heat transfer losses in district heating by using lower supply temperatures and network optimization. Project will prepare the network for decentralized energy production and smart carbon-neutral city.
Oulu is the largest city of Northern Finland with more than 200,000 inhabitants.
