Bioenergy
Volter Oy [website], situate in Finland, with 100+ plants delivered in countries around the world*, is a pioneer and innovator in the development of wood gasification technology. What is produced replaces one litre of oil with approximately two kilograms of dry wood. Waste heat from the process can be used in hydronic underfloor heating, preheating of air-conditioning or domestic water, to name a few.
* Finland, France, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Japan and Canada
Besides CHP systems, Volter provides complete power solutions for wood gasification, including fuel and waste conveyors, fuel dryers and other associated systems.
The electrical output for one Volter 40 CHP is 40 kW with the thermal output of 100 kW. One CHP produces enough electricity and heat for the annual needs of a farm, an entire small housing estate or a small business.
The company's leading edge solution offers several unique benefits:
Ecological - Replacing fossil fuels with CO2 neutral biomass
Economical - With a competitive price per kWh
Reliable - Most up-time with high level of automation and premium quality
Easy to use - With the easiest user interface and highest level of automation in the market
Available - When other forms of local renewable energy are down
Space saving - with the smallest plant footprint in the market
Flexible - With both wood chips and pellets as sources of fuel
Scalable - Multiple units can be combined together for larger plants; for example, twenty-five CHPs forms an energy park with 1 MW electricity output.
Its 100th Volter CHP was manufactured in September 2017. At that milestone its power plants provided heat and power for customers in Finland, Sweden, Norway, Estonia, Italy, Japan, Switzerland, Canada and the UK.
Also that year Volter was the winner of Kasvu Open, which is a national competition for growth companies in Finland.
In 2018, the company moved to its new production and office premises in Tupos, Finland. Doing so multiplied the production capacity.
The company's founder, Juha Sipilä, was the prime minister of Finland from 2015 until 2019: Link.
References from around the world:
"We like Volter 40 Indoor system very much, and in our opinion, it is the best CHP in its scale. Operating by both experts and amateurs is easy. It is compact and alarms the user even in small issues. Since the process is fully automated, the CHP doesn't require to be looked after 24 hours a day. Although it uses fire, it is safe to operate unmanned, and it doesn't waste the heat. For these reasons we think Volter 40 Indoor is a safe and superior CHP system." Hiroumi Syukuwa, Director, Miyazaki Sales Office, Hamatech, Miyazaki, Japan
"I travelled around Europe to find key manufactures of CHPs and wood gasifiers, and Volter really stood out with the design and high running hours. If you have any issues with one of ten units, there are still nine units running instead of all factory going down." Ben Grant, Biomass Partners, Rotherwas Industrial Estate, Hereford, United Kingdom
"Alpua was granted the Village of the Year award in 2015 and Volter's CHP installation was the major factor in achieving it. It has also brought an enormous number of visitors to the village and most of them from foreign countries, which enlivens Alpua and also brings income to the village. The CHP sparks interest especially among the older generation, to whom the wood gasifier is familiar from their youth. We also were involved in developing the CHP, and our ideas were always welcome. Volter has great, young designers, who have no barriers to slow down the development." Esko, Alpua Development Association, Alpua Village School, Alpua, Finland
"The ArborElectroGen45 [Volter 40 Indoor] units are a great design because they are compact and slick, so they can easily fit into a building. I would definitely recommend them to anyone considering biogas CHP systems." John Ruck, John Ruck Construction and Elms Green Woodchip, Leominster, Herefordshire, United Kingdom