Kotkan Energia expects Gasum’s multi-market optimization to significantly reduce costs and emissions

Kotkan Energia and Gasum have intensified their long-standing cooperation with multi-market optimization (MMO) in the energy markets. The service will enable Kotkan Energia to participate on the electricity markets 24/7 every day of the year, which will improve production cost efficiency and support the company in its goals to reduce emissions and generate additional revenue from the electricity markets.

The MMO service offered by Gasum is a continuation of the electricity market cooperation, which over the years has covered, among other things, electricity trade and control room services. Now the expanded service enables the optimization of energy production at all times of the day, every day – automatically and in real time.

“Gasum’s MMO service will help us to effectively participate on all electricity markets, including day ahead, intraday and Fingrid’s balancing energy markets. This would not be possible without the 24/7 energy market control room provided by Gasum,” says Jarkko Mylläri, Energy Manager for Kotkan Energia.

Gasum has 15 years of experience of electricity market demand-side management, optimization and trading services. The MMO service employs around 30 experts, of which 14 work in the 24/7 control room.

Electrification of heat production needs a smart optimization partner

Kotkan Energia wants to be in the frontline in the electrification of heat production. The company's production capacity will see the addition of an electric boiler and a heat pump plant to be completed during 2025. High price volatility on the electricity market has made optimization even more necessary, and this demands new solutions.

“As heat production undergoes electrification, it is important that we are able to respond promptly to changes in the price of electricity. The MMO service will enable us to take advantage of times of both high and low prices, which gives us a significant competitive advantage,” Jarkko Mylläri adds.

In Kotkan Energia's tendering process, the service model offered by Gasum proved to be both cost-effective, as well as comprehensive and high in quality. Kotkan Energia's alternative would have been to invest in its own optimization system, but the as-a-service solution offered greater flexibility and a lighter commissioning process.

“The scope and ability of the service to take the optimization results directly to the market make Gasum stand out from other operators. Overall, this was by far the best and most affordable solution for us,” Jarkko Mylläri says.

Aiming for smaller emissions and bigger savings

The MMO service is still in the preparation phase for commissioning, but expectations are high. Kotkan Energia estimates that the new optimization model will deliver significant cost savings, as it will be possible to allocate different parts of production on an hourly and quarter-hourly basis as efficiently as possible.

The transformation of the energy market and the shift towards quarter-hour balances increase the need for flexible, real-time optimization solutions. The new MMO service will enable Kotkan Energia to manage its production more precisely than earlier while improving its ability to respond to rapid changes in the electricity market.

“The most important thing for us is that the service will enable us to participate in all electricity markets efficiently and continuously. We aim to reduce the combustion of fuels and increase the share of renewable forms of production. This is where the optimization service is a key tool. We believe that we can achieve significant savings in annual fuel costs while increasing our income stream from the electricity market,” Jarkko Mylläri says.