Managing Director’s Review 2024

In 2024, the European energy market faced steep price fluctuations due to weather conditions, geopolitical tensions and rising fossil fuel prices. The capacity of renewable energy also increased, but the impacts of weather dependence were emphasised. Growth in wind power increased price fluctuations and the share of negative hourly rates increased. Energy storage and flexible solutions of the energy transition were also the focus of discussions. In the midst of these changes, long-term investments in renewable energy and strong electricity and district heating networks play a crucial role.

Responsible Turku Energia

Working to reduce emissions and mitigate climate change is at the core of our strategy. We are strongly committed to the climate goals of the City of Turku, and energy production and distribution play a key role in this. To achieve this goal, we have invested in renewable and zero-emission energy production over the long term.

In 2024, we further reduced district heating emissions. Of the district heating sold, 89.4% was produced with renewable energy sources, waste heat and electric boilers. Our affiliate company Turun Seudun Energiantuotanto Oy shut down its last coal boiler last year. Coal will remain a reserve fuel for our district heating production.

In May 2024, we also took an historic step when, over the course of one weekend, all the district heating we sold was mainly produced by zero-emission electricity. The share of district heating production based on non-combustible technologies will continue to increase in the coming years. Preparations for the construction of a new electric boiler at Pääskyvuori in Turku progressed on schedule. The plant will be brought on-line in 2026, which will further accelerate the transition towards zero-emission energy production.

Security of supply in electricity networks

Security of supply is a top priority for us, and 2024 was a record year in the security of electricity supply. The average power interruption in our network area was a record short 6 minutes and 33 seconds. The security of our district heating supply also remained at an excellent level: 99.99%.

Our investments in a strong electricity grid will continue, because promoting the clean transition is one of our key priorities. Possible future clean transition investments in the Turku region require our electricity network to be reliable and offer sufficient power capacity. The regulatory model published by the Energy Authority for 2024–2031 has also raised concerns in Finland, as it will pose problems for electricity network companies to make investments required for the green transition and the electrification of transport.

District heating is also vital to clean transition investments and for the future of the entire energy system. District heating and cooling networks are not reliant on production method, and different waste energy sources can be connected to them and utilised efficiently. District heating networks also enable energy storage.

Customer needs at the forefront

Our customer numbers grew significantly in both the corporate and consumer sectors, and customer satisfaction remained at a good level. An increasing number of customers are still interested in exchange electricity contracts, and we meet their needs with a wide range of contracts. The prices of electricity contracts have dropped significantly since the energy crisis, and our customers have excellent opportunities for choosing a competitive electricity contract that suits their needs.

At the same time, the electrification of transport and society as a whole is progressing rapidly, which further increases interest in optimising electricity consumption. Our customers want to monitor their consumption more closely and take advantage of the opportunities offered by flexibility of demand, such as by timing their electricity consumption to the cheapest hours. During the year, we developed our new Energyonline service, which our customers will have access to in 2026.

I would like to thank our customers, staff and partners for the past year.

Timo Honkanen
Managing Director
Turku Energia