District heating is the preferred heating method

Heat is essential for life in the cool climate of Estonia, and heating companies work around the clock to ensure its supply. Read more on why district heating using renewable sources is the most reliable, convenient, and economical heating solution for cities.

District heating is available in any weather

District heating and hot water are available at any time and in any weather, and the heating company is responsible for their availability. Customers don’t have to worry about extreme cold or other weather effects. With district heating, consumers can be sure that their rooms will have the required temperature even in more extreme weather.

Heat is supplied to the district heating network from various energy sources and, in the event of shutdowns for maintenance or supply failures, the necessary amount of energy is always guaranteed to customers. In large heat production sources, such as boiler houses or cogeneration plants, different fuels can be used and the types of fuels can be changed as needed. In addition, district heating customers benefit from the best heat production technologies introduced in the future, without having to do anything themselves.

Convenient and safe for the customer

Once customers have set the automation of the building’s heating substation to the desired mode, it will automatically regulate the building’s heating depending on the outside air temperature. If it is warm outside, the automation switches off the heating and reduces heat consumption, and vice versa.

Customers do not have to worry about buying fuel, storing it, setting up boilers, or maintaining them. Only the in-house heating system and heating unit are the responsibility and maintenance of the customer, which require much less maintenance than local heating solutions that depreciate and need to be replaced more often.

In addition to comfort, safety is also very important to consumers. With district heating, fire and explosion risks associated with local solutions are excluded.

District heating mitigates energy security risks

Estonia’s largest renewable energy company, Utilitas, mostly uses low-value domestic forest and wood industry leftovers for heating and does not depend entirely on imported fuels, thereby mitigating the risk of energy security. Wood chips are produced in Estonia, which supports local employment and keeps money in the local economy.

Thanks to the use of domestic raw materials, Utilitas is able to mitigate the risks of large oil and gas price fluctuations. Fossil fuels are only consumed to serve peak loads in cold weather.

It is important to ensure stable prices

Over the past 12 years, Utilitas has invested over 400 million euros to switch to renewable fuels and reduce dependence on highly volatile imported natural gas. This has made it possible to keep price increases under greater control compared to several other solutions, especially in light of the shocking rise in the prices of fossil fuels and electricity in the past year.

The company plans to create new fossil fuel-free production capacities to reduce the share of natural gas to under 5% of the total annual production.

In 2030, the customer’s energy consumption footprint will be zero

The environment has always been important to Utilitas, and the company has made significant efforts to reduce the use of fossil fuels. As early as 2001, Utilitas started to switch its boiler houses to renewable fuels in order to save the environment, and Haapsalu and Kärdla were the first locations.

The company now produces most of its energy from renewable sources. It is constantly looking for new solutions to cease reliance on fossil fuels, develops fuel-free solar and wind energy, and increases its production efficiency. Utilitas aims to achieve carbon neutrality in all district heating and cooling networks by 2030.