Elenia and Sustainability 2023 report: Towards the electric transition of the energy market
The energy market is undergoing a historic transformation with the goal of a carbon-neutral future for society. A successful transformation requires a carbon-free electrification of society. Elenia drives this development with its services and activities. In order to reap the full benefits of the growth of solar and wind power, for example, society needs smart grid solutions and the development of related services to balance electricity production and consumption.
“We are on the leading edge of electrification, for example, with the help of services that enable demand response,” says Tapani Liuhala, CEO of Elenia.
Regulatory methods are slowing down the electric transition
It is necessary to invest in electricity networks in order to achieve the clean transition, reduce power outages and ensure the security of supply.
“We have invested in the long-term modernisation of the electricity network. Thanks to the weatherproof electricity network, power outages caused by severe storms have decreased by a quarter over a decade. However, this work is still ongoing,” says Liuhala.
The work is slowed down by the Energy Authority having changed, in late 2023, the regulatory methods for the next eight years in a way that will significantly cut Elenia’s planned network investments over the next couple of years.
Energy efficiency through electronic services
Elenia’s service development has produced solutions that make the customer’s everyday life easier while promoting the electric transition. The electricity metering reform that will continue until the turn of the year 2025/2026, in which new smart electricity meters are installed for customers, will provide new opportunities to monitor electricity consumption in almost real time and control electricity loads.
“We believe that the flexibility of electricity consumption will increase significantly in households,” Liuhala says.
Ambitious climate work
With regard to climate work, Elenia is committed to science-based climate targets, to which an increasing number of Elenia’s partners are also committed. The work is guided by the emissions reduction roadmap, which covers Elenia’s own operations, construction, procurement and solutions developed for customers. Nature work is emerging more strongly alongside climate work.
“We take biodiversity into account in the planning and construction of the electricity network. The network reforms have continuously freed up land areas on overhead line routes for afforestation, for example,” Liuhala says.
Elenia’s wide-ranging sustainability efforts are also reflected in the company’s excellent results in the international GRESB sustainability assessment of the infrastructure sector, for example. Elenia is currently preparing for the implementation of the EU corporate sustainability reporting directive by developing expertise and specifying the organisation of its sustainability work.
Elenia’s reporting includes Elenia Group’s 2023 Annual Review and the Elenia and Sustainability 2023 reports.
