Managing Director's Review

Towards carbon-neutral energy production

The challenging operating environment in 2025 highlighted the importance of our company’s operational reliability, flexibility, and long-term strategic development.

For Westenergy, 2025 marked a continuation of the transitional development seen in previous years, while being a year in which many changes were translated into concrete actions. The ongoing energy transition, unexpected developments in the waste market, and uncertainties in the regulatory environment highlighted the importance of our company’s operational reliability, flexibility, and long-term strategic direction. At the same time, we actively promoted Westenergy’s long-term goal of achieving carbon-neutral energy production by 2030.

The energy transition became increasingly visible in Westenergy’s operations in 2025. The district heating network, together with its heat storage facilities, increasingly served as a flexible asset in the electricity market. Depending on market conditions, production was increasingly directed towards district heating. This trend was widely evident throughout Finland, as energy companies invested in electric boilers and began to utilise market flexibility more actively. Westenergy’s development efforts were also reflected in the turbine’s 10-year maintenance carried out in the spring and the renovation of Vaasan Sähkö’s heat storage facility at the end of the year. As a result, electricity production remained historically low, while district heating production increased. Despite this shift, we were able to meet customer needs reliably.

The waste market in 2025 developed contrary to earlier expectations. While the volume of waste for incineration was expected to decrease with the development of separate collection and recycling, in reality, more waste was diverted to the market than European waste incineration capacity could handle. This development was observed across Northern Europe and parts of Central Europe. In this situation, our long-term investments, such as the waste storage facility built a few years ago, effective routines, and close cooperation with Vaasan Sähkö Oy in the energy market, proved to be extremely important. 

I can proudly say that despite a challenging operating environment the operations of Westenergy’s waste-to-energy plant remained stable, achieving a plant usability rate of 94.7% and producing 419 GWh of district heating and 50.6 GWh of electricity during the year. The annual maintenance shutdown was carried out as planned, and no significant environmental incidents or accidents occurred. 

Westenergy’s long-term strategic goal is to achieve carbon-neutral energy production by 2030, with the carbon capture and utilisation (ECCU) project as its most significant enabler. Implementation of the project would allow us to capture a significant portion of our plant’s flue gas emissions, and would promote the reuse of carbon dioxide on an industrial scale. 

During 2025, the ECCU project advanced as planned through successful collaboration with Prime Capital AG, CPC Finland Oy, Andritz AG, which was selected as the lead designer for the FEED (front-end engineering design) phase, and Ramboll Denmark A/S, which was selected as the construction management consultant. The FEED phase was completed successfully. However, before an investment decision can be made, certain regulatory issues and key agreements still need to be finalised. These are currently being addressed. 

Waste utilisation and recycling were also further advanced through the Ekoälyä project, and the results from 2025 have been encouraging. The aim is to ensure the efficient routing of waste streams while supporting both recycling and the optimal utilisation of energy and materials. At the same time, we have been actively working to advance legislation, both in Finland and at the EU, especially regarding waste-to-energy utilisation, carbon capture, emissions trading, the circular economy and waste legislation. A clear and predictable regulatory environment is an essential prerequisite for future investments. 

Our company made progress also in the field of digitalisation on several fronts in 2025. The development of HR, maintenance and IT management systems continued, and we introduced the first artificial intelligence applications to support business operations. One of the most significant development projects of the year was the implementation of the ISO 27001 information security management system. The project advanced successfully to the assessment phase, with the aim of finalising the development project in 2026. This will allow our current management system to also be ISO 27001 certified in the future. The systematic development of information security is a key prerequisite for utilising digitalisation, automation and emerging technologies. 

Waste-to-energy and the circular economy will play a key role as society moves towards a more sustainable economy, with Westenergy playing an important role in this development.

I strongly believe that waste-to-energy and the circular economy will play a key role as society moves towards a more sustainable economy, with Westenergy playing an important role in this development. This will be achieved through the responsible utilisation and reprocessing of unrecyclable waste into energy and recycled materials. Looking ahead, the implementation of the ECCU project will also enable the capture and utilisation of carbon dioxide. In this way, we are supporting the transition away from fossil-based resources and the linear economic model. 

I would like to sincerely thank all our owner companies, partners and our personnel for their commitment and professionalism throughout 2025. Together, we have an excellent opportunity to build a more sustainable future. 

Olli Alhoniemi 

Managing Director