Nokia’s new R&D and manufacturing campus in Oulu, Finland, has “one of the world’s largest CO₂ [R744] district heating and cooling plants,” according to the company, with the site producing enough thermal output to heat 20,000 homes.

Oulu, with a population of 216,000, experiences temperatures below freezing for the majority of the winter. The CO₂ system, designed in collaboration between Nokia and local energy provider Oulun Energia, will deliver approximately 70,000MWh of district heat annually using waste heat generated by the cooling used in the facility’s production process. The system, installed by Finnish contractor Caverion, will generate enough waste heat to meet 4% of Oulun Energia’s annual district heat demand.

“This energy center is a technological pioneer for modern, zero-emission cooling and heating plants,” said Ville Tamminen, Head of Caverion Finland Division. “We believe that CO₂ will play an important role as a technology for future high-capacity energy centers.”

Campus details: The immediate focus of the new Nokia facility, according to the company, includes standardizing its 5G technology, system-on-chips, radio hardware and software.

• “Sustainability is integral to the facility, with renewable energy used throughout the site and [our] additional energy used to heat Oulu households,” Nokia said.

Climate goals: The project helps both Nokia and Oulun Energia meet sustainability targets.

• The campus avoids 99% of potential CO₂e emissions by sourcing only green energy and reusing 100% of its waste energy, according to Nokia.
• The utility aims to achieve carbon-neutral energy production by 2030. “The utilization of waste heat in the district heating network moves us on our path towards our goals,” said Tommi Kantola, Business Director of Energy Services at Oulun Energia.

A similar project: Danish manufacturer Fenagy has supplied six isobutane (R600a)/propane (R290) heat pumps to a utility company in northeastern Finland via Caverion. The units will cool a local data center and contribute 30MW (8,530TR) of waste heat to the district heating network.

• “The heat pumps will raise the roughly 30°C [86°F] data center excess heat to approximately 85°C [185°F] to meet the district heating requirements,” Fenagy said.
• “On the cold side, [the units] provide 20°C [68°F] water for server room cooling, independent of the return temperature from the district heating network, which in this case is about 50°C [122°F],” the manufacturer added.

Quotable: “Nokia’s new smart campus combines high technology with the principles of sustainable development,” said Jarkko Pyykkönen, Director of Nokia’s Oulu unit. “The innovative energy center connected with the campus has an important role to play in ensuring clean energy solutions.”

“We believe that CO₂ will play an important role as a technology for future high-capacity energy centers.”

Ville Tamminen, Head of Caverion Finland Division