Helsinki's Helen gets EUR-150m EIB loan for green district heating

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has extended a EUR-150-million (USD 160.6m) loan to Finnish utility Helen Oy to finance its renewables-based district heating projects in Helsinki.

Helen, which is wholly-owned by the City of Helsinki, will use the funds to build a new heat pump plant, and to convert fuel use from coal to biomass pellets in one of its heating plants in the Finnish capital, the EU bank said.

Helen expects to invest a total of EUR 209 million in the two projects, with the EIB’s funds covering 72% of the amount.

Helen has set the target to achieve 100% carbon neutrality in its energy production by 2030. To make this happen, the company is making investments to modernise its energy systems and replace more than 2,000 MW of installed fossil energy production capacity by 2025.

The EIB’s financing is part of the REPowerEU plan to reduce European Union’s dependence on fossil fuels, the lender added.

(EUR 1.0 = USD 1.071)

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