Boskalis Nordic Today No. 02/2019-2020

06 CUSTOMER’S NEWS | PORT OF NAANTALI, PORT DIRECTOR/COO YRJÖ VAINIALA:

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COAL AND GRAIN QUAY EXTENSION – FINAL SECTION WILL BE FINISHED!´

a large proportion of the wood chips will be transported to the power plant by land, shipping traffic will increase through wood chip cargos delivered by sea. Our simu- lation showed that the planned extension will shorten overall throughput and waiting times along the entire quay line to an ex- tent that makes the investment worthwhile. We therefore aim to maintain our level of service and avoid situations where ships would have long waits to reach the quay,” says Vainiala. The 82 metre extension at the southern end of the quay line will extend quay berths 15 and 16. The project will bring the total length of the quay to around 460 metres. The entire quay line 15–16–17 will be used to ship coal, grain, cement and salt, among other things. Of these, grain ac- counts for a significant proportion. “The Port of Naantali is Finland’s largest grain port. Up to half of Finland’s annual grain exports travel through Naantali. Huge concrete grain silos, which are operated by Suomen Viljava Oy and once served as the State Grain Store, are located at our port. They have a very high storage capacity – around 300,000 m 3 and 230,000 tonnes. The silos – the crown jewels – owned by the state-owned company Suomen Viljava Oy, are Finland’s largest and play an im- portant role in the export of Finnish grain,” says Vainiala. “Our quay extension project, like our other ongoing investments, will contribute to securing future operating conditions for our customers at our port. I am pleased that Terramare received the contract, because we have a long history of cooperation and even the most challenging situations have always been handled in a good spirit. An even longer quay extension would have been appropriate, if only it would have been possible. But that’s how it goes – when the quay extension is built, the final section of the quay line will be finished!”concludes Vainiala with satisfaction.

T he Port of Naantali is preparing to further serve shipping traffic, which is expected to increase in the near future, by extending its so-called coal and grain quay. The purpose of the investment is to improve the utilisation rate of the quay by creating conditions for safe and efficient cargo handling. The aim is to minimise ship waiting times and access to the quay as well as the total time needed to unload ships along the entire quay line. Yrjö Vainiala , who has served as the Port of Naantali’s Chief Operating Officer for 15 years, is satisfied with the long-con- sidered investment. “The Port of Naantali is preparing for growing shipping traffic, which will be affected by, among other things, the con- version from coal to wood chips in heat production of the power plant located in its immediate vicinity and connected to it by a conveyor. Future storage and shipment of transit grain from the east will also con- tribute to the growth in shipping traffic. The increasing use of large Panamax class ves- sels in grain transports at our port, along with other growing shipping traffic, such as wood chip transports, also influenced the investment decision on the quay exten-

sion,” explains Vainiala. In autumn 2017, a new multi-fuel unit was commissioned at the Naantali power plant, partially replacing a coal-fired power plant that has been in use for around 50 years. The CHP plant, owned by Turun Seudun Energiantuotanto Oy (TSE), produces elec- tricity and steam for industrial customers as well as district heat, which is supplied to Turku and neighbouring towns through one of Europe’s longest district heating tunnels. “In its heat production, Naantali’s multi- fuel power plant will switch completely from coal to more environmentally friendly energy sources and biofuels, such as wood chips, by 2025. This means that, compared to coal, for example, more than two and a half times the weight and five times the vol- ume of wood chips will be required to pro- duce the same amount of heat. Although

TEXT AND PHOTO: MARKKU SALONEN

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