6 Politekhnichna Street
Building 5, floor 8, room 801
Turku Energia monitored and reported on district-heat distribution across Turku, Finland, and surrounding communities. The utility operated generation and distribution assets using automation and measurement equipment from multiple manufacturers. The project addressed how existing and future devices could be connected to a shared monitoring and reporting environment, including remote sites such as building heat substations.
Turku Energia selected Wonderware InTouch for its control rooms in 1999. The control-room software was updated over time, while Wonderware Historian collected and stored data from different sites for operational and long-term reporting. Wonderware Information Server made indicators and reports available to authorised users on selected terminals.
Equipment from different vendors could connect through field buses, Ethernet or wireless communications according to each site’s requirements. For remote monitoring and control, including building heat substations, Turku Energia selected Unitronics PLCs with integrated displays. The units combined control logic with a local operator interface, could be programmed and tested remotely over mobile communications, and could be delivered ready for installation to reduce on-site work and equipment downtime.
This arrangement allowed in-house staff to make many system changes and add new sites; Wonderware software could be updated as new capabilities, including security features, became necessary.
The 2020 profile gives annual sales of about 2,000 GWh of heat and 1,600 GWh of electricity and a workforce of 310 people. It also describes a strategy targeting a 50% share of renewable and environmentally sustainable energy in both heat and electricity supply. These are historical figures and goals from the case-study period.
