When we decided to enter the Finnish market back in fall 2023, we could never imagine how our endeavors turned out to be in 6 months. But why did we decide to do so in the first place?
Initially, it wasn’t the team from OnZero that pushed on entering a new market, it was actually the interest of a Finnish city, approaching us after they heard from our proof of concept in Fagersta. Taking this as a sign, we decided to take a deeper look at the Finnish market. What we realized was that due to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the Finnish heat industry was worried about potential scarcity in biomass fuels such as wood chips due to the import restrictions of russian wood. But not only the fuel availability was topping the agenda of Finnish district heating companies, also the electrification and decarbonization of heating was a well discussed topic. After realizing that our Digital Heat Plants, which recycle nearly 99% of waste heat to CO2-neutral heat fit the market needs, we decided to give it a try.
Half a year later, we found ourselves deep into negotiations with several district heating companies that were interested in our decarbonized heat. Luckily, our product fits the market’s needs, therefore entering the market gave us an easier time than adapting to the Finnish language. “Hukkalämmöllä“ – the Finnish word for waste heat still does not stick in our brains. Yet, in spring this year we found a strong and forward-thinking partner in the city of Kemijärvi. Only an hour away from the famous christmas-town “Rovaniemi”. It did not take long and our team as well as the CEO of Kemijärven, the local district heating company, Timo Jokinen came to the conclusion that his partnership is a win-win for both of us.
In a very constructive process, we officially signed a long-lasting contract with Kemijärvi this june. This partnership will not only mean production security for the heating plant, but will also have significant positive impact on the environment around Kemijärvi. Around 15.000 m³ of woods will be saved yearly as a result of this partnership. Currently, constructions are ongoing and both parties are aiming to go live in autumn.
While this has been our first secured project in Finland, we’re already looking forward to all the upcoming partnerships that are currently in the making. We truly believe that OnZero’s data center can play a crucial role in the decarbonisation of heating, while offering highly demanded HPC services. In collaboration with local TSO’s, the aim is to engage in grid stabilisation efforts too, in order to support the energy transition for a greener future.
