6 clean energy projects get €99.8m investment aid

The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment on Tuesday granted EUR 99.8 million to six clean energy projects, said the ministry in a press release.

The ministry made the first energy investment aid decisions under Finland’s Recovery and Resilience Plan to promote clean energy solutions.

Two of the projects utilise renewable hydrogen in the production of electrofuels, two projects significantly increase solar power generation and two projects electrify industrial processes.

“These investment decisions support large-scale domestic projects that will drive forward future energy solutions. They are important for both climate objectives and the energy system. Companies will also benefit from new business opportunities. At the same time as we find new solutions for industrial-scale implementation, our security of supply in energy will improve and the use of fossil energy will continue to decrease,” said Minister of Economic Affairs Mika Lintilä.

The Ministry granted EUR 30.22 million to Vantaa Energia Oy and to EUR 35.4 million to St1 Oy for production plant investments.

Vantaa Energia will produce renewable methane and St1 renewable methanol, with both projects demonstrating the production of electrofuels on an industrial scale by utilising renewable hydrogen.

The projects combine the production of renewable hydrogen, capture of carbon dioxide and the methanol or methanation process in a new way. At the same time, the projects utilise the waste heat generated in the production process.

Ilmatar Energy Oy was granted EUR 19.56 million and Exilion Tuulihankkeet Ky EUR 8.9 million for investments in solar electricity.

The projects will demonstrate the production of solar electricity on an industrial scale in a way that integrates solar power with wind power production and electricity storage. The future power plants of Ilmatar Energy Oy and Exilion Tuulihankkeet Ky will generate 150 MW and 70 MW of electricity, respectively.

These projects are significantly larger in scale than the current solar power plants in Finland, which generate up to 10 MW of electricity. There are also no solar power plants of this size in the Nordic countries.

Fiskars Finland Oy Ab was granted EUR 2.87 million and Mäkelä Alu Oy EUR 2.85 million for investments in electrification of industry.

The projects will electrify production processes and reduce the use of natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas. In addition, carbon dioxide emissions from production will decrease significantly and energy efficiency of production will improve.

The granting of aid is based on a comparison of applications by project type. In its overall consideration, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment assessed the impact of investments relative to the objectives set in Finland’s Recovery and Resilience Plan.