Oilon cel­eb­rates the inaug­ur­a­tion of a new pro­duc­tion facil­ity for indus­trial heat pumps today in Kokkola, Finland. The new factory will quad­ruple Oilon’s pro­duc­tion capa­city of indus­trial heat pumps.

“Large industrial-​scale heat pumps are a very cost-​efficient means to replace fossil fuels in heat pro­duc­tion. This is the reason why they are key to redu­cing carbon emis­sions inter­na­tion­ally,” said Martti Kukkola, Oilon’s Chief Busi­ness Officer.

Indus­trial heat pumps are used to produce heating energy, for example, for dis­trict heating and indus­trial pro­cesses, where they often replace coal and other fuels. Indus­trial heat pumps typ­ic­ally utilize waste heat or outside air as their source of heat. The same system can produce both heat and cooling.

A new factory is required because the demand for large heat pumps is growing rapidly. Oilon’s sales of indus­trial heat pumps doubled in both 2019 and 2020.

“Inter­na­tion­ally, Oilon is best known for its gas burners. But in the future, the indus­trial heat pumps are going to be our largest busi­ness,” Kukkola said.

“The new factory enables the man­u­fac­tur­ing of 600 machines per year. However, this is only the begin­ning. We are going to have to increase the capa­city again around 2025.”

In recent years, energy com­pan­ies in par­tic­u­lar have become inter­ested in large heat pumps. As fossil and bio­fuels are being replaced by heat pumps, carbon emis­sions are reduced, which helps the com­pan­ies achieve their carbon neut­ral­ity goals. The com­pan­ies must follow emis­sion trading schemes and the tight­en­ing climate reg­u­la­tions.

“The demand for large heat pump systems is growing espe­cially rapidly. Cus­tom­ers are now inquir­ing about systems as large as 100 MW and beyond.”

The power output of Oilon’s indus­trial heat pumps ranges from 30 kW to 2 MW. In large pro­jects, the heat pumps are con­nec­ted in series for more output.

“We have inves­ted heavily in R & D in the past 15 years, and now this is bearing fruit. The coef­fi­cient of per­form­ance has been enhanced con­tinu­ously, and we can now achieve tem­per­at­ures as high as 120 degrees Celcius. Not many man­u­fac­tur­ers can do that,” Martti Kukkola says. In addi­tion to energy pro­duc­tion, high tem­per­at­ures are needed in various indus­trial pro­cesses.

All of Oilon’s indus­trial heat pumps are pro­duced in Finland. In 2020, four out of five machines were expor­ted. The most import­ant regions are Europe, China, and South America. Sales are now also being ini­ti­ated in North America.

Oilon’s top man­age­ment will attend the factory inaug­ur­a­tion, includ­ing Chair­man of the Board, Kjell Forsen, and CEO, Tero Tulokas. The invit­ees include media, cus­tom­ers, and col­lab­or­at­ing com­pan­ies and insti­tutes.

Oilon is a Finnish family-​owned company that focuses on energy and envir­on­mental tech­no­logy. Oilon has factor­ies in Finland, China, the USA, and Russia, as well as sales in more than 50 coun­tries. Oilon cel­eb­rated its 60th anniversary in the spring of 2021.

Contact:

Martti Kukkola,

Chief Busi­ness Officer, Oilon

+358 400 312 060
martti.kukkola@oilon.com