Working for the climate: towards a low-carbon society
Pohjolan Voima is part of a project that aims to transform Finland into a low-carbon society. As we produce a significant part of all electricity produced in Finland, our operations matter.
We’ve been persistently reducing our carbon footprint since the late 1990s. Already 99.7% of our electricity production is currently CO2 neutral. 91.4% of our heat production was carbon neutral in 2025.
In Pohjolan Voima’s production, carbon-neutral energy includes hydropower and nuclear power, as well as energy produced from wood-based fuels that meet sustainability criteria and the bio share of solid recovered fuels.
The carbon neutrality figures for electricity and heat exceeded the target level set for 2025.
Our carbon neutrality targets by 2025 were 99% of electricity production being carbon neutral and 85% of process steam and district heat production being carbon neutral. We reached our targets ahead of time.
The new emissions reduction target for 2030has two parts:
- Scope 1–2 emissions intensity will decrease by 30 per cent from 2024 to 2030.
- Scope 3 emissions intensity will decrease by 30 per cent from 2024 to 2030.
The emissions calculations have been carried out in accordance with the GHG Protocol, and the emissions for the 2024 baseline year have been verified. The first target concerns emissions from Pohjolan Voima’s parent company and subsidiaries. The second target concerns those Scope 3 emissions arising from the energy production of Pohjolan Voima’s associated companies and joint ventures. This definition is intended to direct measures particularly to-wards those emission sources where the greatest potential for improvement remains.
Nuclear power, hydropower and biopower
At Pohjolan Voima, the most significant production method for CO2-neutral electricity is nuclear power. TVO’s Olkiluoto 3 nuclear power plant started it’s regular electricity production in 2023. With it, the percentage of low-carbon electricity production has increased further. TVO is a joint venture of Pohjolan Voima.
Hydropower is the most significant way to produce renewable energy in Finland, and it is the most important source of balancing power. We have increased the performance of our hydropower plants during overhauls. This has increased our capacity to produce CO2-neutral hydropower. However, the production of hydropower varies each year due to the amount of rainfall.
Our thermal power plants are efficient combined heat and power plants (CHP). The CHP plants located on forest industry sites utilise wood-based by-products from the wood-processing industry. They produce process steam required at the plants and district heat for local communities.
We have torn down three oil and coal power plants. The first was the Mussalo power plant in Kotka in 2015. In 2019-2021, the coal and oil-fired power plants in Kristiinankaupunki and Tahkoluoto in Pori were demolished.
Peat becomes a backup fuel
In power plants for combined heat and power production, the fuels are mainly wood-based fuels. In addition, recycled fuels, peat and coal are used. We use sustainably sourced fuels.
In 2025 our use of peat was reduced by 94% compared to the 2019 level, and we reached our reduction target. Our reduction target for 2025 was 80% from the 2019 level.
Restricting the use of peat to backup fuel is not a simple matter, because we need to find the most suitable solutions for each plant and boiler. The aim is to avoid corrosion and major failures.
