Defossilisation has a positive impact on Vantaa Energy’s results for 2021
Year 2021 for the Vantaa Energy Group was successful both financially and operationally. During the year, the company continued to take determined steps to promote its Fossil-Free 2026 projects: at the end of the year it launched a new group of projects to make progress towards carbon negativity by 2030. The circular-economy energy company Vantaa Energy served its heat customers with excellent results as, according to the customer satisfaction survey conducted by EPSI Rating, the most satisfied heat customers in Finland are in Vantaa.
The Vantaa Energy Group had a good financial result in 2021. The Group’s turnover stood at EUR 275.9 million (EUR 217.5 million) and operating profit came to EUR 44.1 million (EUR 64.1 million). Comparable operating profit totalled EUR 42.2 million (EUR 51.9 million). Factors contributing to the decrease in operating profit included the sharp increase in the price of emission costs compared with the previous year.
The Group’s gross investments in fixed assets in 2021 totalled EUR 96.0 million (EUR 133.2 million). Investments in power plants and heating plants amounted to EUR 67.1 million. The greatest individual investment, EUR 63.1 million, was made in the extension of the waste-to-energy plant. The district heating network was refurbished with EUR 6.9 million. The company succeeded with excellent results in the operation and maintenance of the heating network and heating plants in Vantaa. Last year, the customer-specific disturbance time for heat customers was record low, 0.45 hours/customer (0.48 hours/customer).
– The prices of fossil fuels and emission allowances started to rise sharply last year. The investments already made by the company to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and the use of fossil fuels contributed to the good financial results despite the sharp rise in the price of fuels and emission allowances. The progress of the extension of the waste-to-energy plant to the commissioning phase as planned in the early summer will give a further boost to this favourable trend, says Jukka Toivonen, CEO of Vantaa Energy.
Finland’s most satisfied heat customers live in Vantaa. The heat customers of Vantaa Energy gave the company the highest scores in the customer satisfaction survey conducted by EPSI Rating: in the survey, the company did particularly well in the company image and meeting the customers’ expectations.
Out of its result for 2021, Vantaa Energy pays a dividend of about EUR 18 million to its owners, the City of Vantaa and the City of Helsinki.
Circular-economy energy company Vantaa Energy is a trailblazer in showing the way in solving climate issues
The goal of the circular-economy energy company Vantaa Energy is to phase out the use of fossil fuels in energy production by 2026 and then to progress towards carbon negativity by 2030. The share of fossil fuels in the company’s energy production is very small. The extension of the waste-to-energy plant will enable phasing out of coal already this spring. The coal-fired boiler in the Martinlaakso power plant will remain ready for deployment until further notice in order to safeguard security of supply. The last fossil fuel, natural gas, will be phased out by 2026. After that, the company will continue its progress towards carbon negativity in 2030 with a group of projects where Vantaa Energy will sequester more carbon dioxide than it releases into the atmosphere. The targets aim to capture and utilise carbon dioxide in the production of renewable energy and various long-life materials.
– The implementation of the Carbon Negative 2030 project entity will significantly increase Vantaa Energy’s own electricity consumption, and therefore the company will be active in increasing the production of renewable energy, such as wind power, also in the coming years, Toivonen explains.
In addition to impacts on the environment, phasing out the use of fossil fuels will also affect the stability of the price of heat: energy use of waste, diverse utilisation of renewable energy sources, and withdrawing from changes in the prices of emission allowances will enable a stable price of heat for the customers of Vantaa Energy also in the future. The price of district heat produced by Vantaa Energy is the most favourable in the Helsinki region.
Further information:
Jukka Toivonen, CEO, Vantaa Energy Ltd
jukka.toivonen@vantaanenergia.fi
tel. +358 50 453 6729
Photo and interview requests: viestinta@vantaanenergia.fi