# Helen

> Helen is Helsinki's city-owned energy company and Finland's retail-electricity market leader. It sells power nationwide, heats roughly 95% of Helsinki properties, operates cooling and electricity networks, and is replacing centralized coal with a flexible portfolio of heat pumps, electric boilers, waste heat, storage, wind, solar, nuclear power interests and a green-hydrogen pilot.

- **Founded:** 1909
- **Headquarters:** Helsinki, Finland
- **Founders:** City of Helsinki (Founder and sole owner)
- **Team size:** 706 average personnel in 2025
- **Products:** Retail electricity, District heating, District cooling, Electricity distribution, Oma Helen and Smart Control
- **Notable:** Ended coal use on 1 April 2025, when Salmisaari closed., Reduced direct greenhouse-gas emissions by 56% in 2025 and by 84% from the 1990 level., Maintained district-heating reliability above 99.9% through the first coal-free winter.

## Products & services

- **Retail electricity** — Fixed-price, market-price and renewable or carbon-free electricity contracts for consumers and businesses across Finland.
- **District heating** — Production, distribution and sale of heat to properties across Helsinki, covering roughly 95% of the city's properties.
- **District cooling** — Centralized cooling for homes, housing companies, commercial buildings and data centres, often paired with heat recovery.
- **Electricity distribution** — Helen Electricity Network delivers power to more than 430,000 customers through roughly 6,500 kilometres of network in Helsinki.
- **Oma Helen and Smart Control** — Digital consumption monitoring plus appliance optimization for spot-price periods; Smart Control supports more than 400 device models through Synergi.
- **Energy flexibility and storage** — Grid batteries, reserve-market trading, demand response and HelenFlex optimization for volatile renewable generation.
- **Waste-heat recovery** — Cooling and heat-pump systems that move data-centre and industrial waste heat into Helsinki's district-heating network.
- **3H2 Helsinki Hydrogen Hub** — A roughly 3 MW green-hydrogen pilot integrating electricity, transport, heat and flexibility, with waste heat fed to district heating.

## Achievements

- Ended coal use on 1 April 2025, when Salmisaari closed.
- Reduced direct greenhouse-gas emissions by 56% in 2025 and by 84% from the 1990 level.
- Maintained district-heating reliability above 99.9% through the first coal-free winter.
- Became the first Finnish energy company to receive SBTi validation in 2022.
- Built a wind-power portfolio exceeding 900 MW by the end of 2025.
- Became Finland's market leader in retail electricity after Väre joined the group.
- Reduced district-heating prices for three consecutive years through 2026.
- Operates one of Finland's most reliable urban electricity networks; Helen says a resident experiences a 30-minute outage only about once per decade on average.

## Latest updates

- **2026-07** — Reported first-half net sales of EUR 914 million, up 43%, driven by higher electricity prices and Väre integration; agreed to sell EV charging to Plugit.
- **2026-06** — Merged Väre into Helen, bringing its electricity contracts, microgeneration agreements and energy services into the parent company.
- **2026-04** — Published a Paris-aligned climate transition plan covering investments, risks and emissions cuts through 2040.
- **2026-03** — Reported that the first full coal-free winter kept district-heating reliability above 99.9%, while 2025 heat-production emissions fell 56%.
- **2025-12** — Commissioned a 14 MW industrial-scale air-to-water heat pump at Salmisaari and completed the Niinimäki wind farm.
- **2025-05** — Leased retired Salmisaari space to Steady Energy for a 6 MW non-nuclear SMR pilot using an electrical resistor.

## Links

- Website: https://www.helen.fi/en
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/helen-oy
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/energiahelen
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@HelsinginEnergia
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/energiahelen/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/energiahelen
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@energiahelen

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/helen
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-08-21