Utilitas builds a new district cooling plant

Utilitas and KMG Inseneriehituse AS entered into an agreement for the construction of a second Utilitas district cooling plant in Tallinn at Peterburi tee 32a. Construction of the plant will begin in November and will be completed in September next year.

‘Environmentally friendly solutions are increasingly valued in buildings and the planned district cooling plant will supply buildings in Ülemiste City with environmentally friendly cooling in the future,’ said Robert Kitt, head of the district heating companies of Utilitas. ‘The efficiency and reliability of the district cooling system will provide buildings with the energy they need in all weather and reduce the carbon footprint of the energy they consume.’

‘Regional and central solutions are becoming more and more popular due to their resource efficiency, and as a contractor, we are proud to be able to participate in this process with our team,’ said Janno Oja, project manager of KMG Inseneriehitus.

The district cooling plant will produce cooling for the buildings of Ülemiste City. Ülemiste City has decided to abandon local solutions and to switch to convenient and environmentally friendly district heating and cooling. Among the first to join the district energy in Ülemiste City is the Alma Tomingas building at Sepise 7, which has the international LEED Gold green building certificate.

In order to ensure the transition to district energy, Utilitas built 1.3 km of both district cooling and heating pipelines in the campus this year. District heating will be available in the campus already this year and district cooling will be available after the completion of the district cooling plant in the autumn of next year.

Utilitas invests nearly four million euros in the construction of the district cooling plant.

Until now, Utilitas has operated one district cooling plant, which has been supplying the office buildings in the Fahle quarter in Tallinn since 2019. District cooling is being used more and more and, in the future, in addition to the Fahle quarter and Ülemiste City, the cooling network will also cover the Tallinn city centre area.

The process of district cooling is similar to that of district heating – cooling is produced away from buildings in one or more district cooling plants and the buildings of customers are cooled through a cooling unit of the building connected to the district cooling network. District cooling is widespread in Stockholm and Helsinki, for example, and district cooling is used for cooling premises, refrigerators in shopping centres, servers of data warehouses, cold stores, and buildings with large glass surfaces.

Utilitas is the largest producer of renewable energy and district heating company in Estonia. The company supplies heating to 175,000 households in eight Estonian cities – Tallinn, Maardu, Keila, Rapla, Haapsalu, Kärdla, Jõgeva, and Valga and provides district cooling in Tallinn. The Fahle quarter and Ülemiste City have joined the district cooling service in Tallinn.

KMG Inseneriehituse AS is a civil engineering company established in 2007. In the recent years, KMG has participated in the implementation of several different projects together with its partners, including the design and construction of the parking garage at Tallinn Airport, the construction of Reidi tee, the design and construction of the Admiral’s Bridge in the Old City Harbour, and many more. The company currently employs 16 people and has a turnover of over 15 million euros.