The Federation of Tampere Evangelical Lutheran Parishes wants to pump excess heat from its Valtiala furnace into the local central heating system to heat homes in the town as well as in nearby Kangasala.
A significant amount of heat remains unused, especially during the summer.
Heikki Päätalo, the property manager of the Tampere parish federation, said it wants to put this wasted energy to good use.
Energy company Kangasalan Lämpö, which provides district heating, said it had engaged in preliminary talks regarding the initiative.
At the moment, excess heat runs through a condenser and is released into the air, so channelling it into district heating would also have positive environmental impacts.
"This is an important issue for us from an environmental perspective," Päätalo said.
He added that major investments are not made for the sake of greenwashing but also have to make financial sense. In this case, the investment into district heating would pay itself back in less than a decade.
By law, a crematorium cannot be operated to make a profit.
"In practice, any potential financial benefit would go towards customer fees. In other words, cremation fees would drop," he explained.
Capturing excess heat from crematoriums is, however, not a new phenomenon.
Crematorium heat is already being directed into the district heating network in Espoo, according to the Helsinki Region Chamber of Commerce.
If the parish union and Kangasalan Lämpö reach an agreement, the crematorium's excess heat could be warming homes in the area by next winter.
"We're interested in all excess heat. Energy shouldn't be released into the air — it should be put to good use," said Pekka Lehtonen of Kangasalan Lämpö.
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