Annual Report in Short
Summary
The year 2008 was a year of awards and recognitions for Helsingin Energia. We won the European Regional Champion Award in the Energy category of European Parliament's Committee of the Regions. According to the rationale for the Award, Helsingin Energia is a unique and leading expert in energy efficiency in the world. Thus, our trigeneration - producing electricity, heat and cooling in a single process at the highest efficiency rate in the world - received the supreme award in the EU.
Helsingin Energia was also acknowledged by the International Energy Agency IEA, which in its independent country-specific review commends the high efficiency of Helsingin Energia's large-scale energy production.
Good result for the financial year
The result for the year 2008 was good and in line with forecast. Behind the profit trend were Helsingin Energia's successful operations in the electricity market. However, the result was affected by an abrupt change in the economy and, thus, in the need for, and the price of, energy. The review year was also exceptionally warm.
The retail sales of electricity decreased by approx. 7% form the previous year due to intense competition. Electricity sales to households increased significantly, in terms of both customer numbers and sales volumes.
The number of district heat customers continued to grow along with urban development. Heat sales decreased somewhat as a result of the mild year. District cooling continued to expand to new areas in Helsinki and steadily increased its market share in the capital city.
Emissions at their lowest for decades
Helsingin Energia's emissions continued to decrease in 2008. Coal consumption decreased by a third from 2007, the use of natural gas increased by approx. 9%, and the use of oil fell below 2% of total energy.
Carbon dioxide emissions decreased by 16% to the smallest figure for decades. Emissions of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides decreased by weight compared to 2007, sulphur dioxide by about 50% and nitrogen oxides by about 11%.
Energy efficiency is Helsingin Energia's strength. It is implemented in combined heat and power production, district heating and district cooling as well as in advice on the use of energy. In 2008, ecologically efficient combined production accounted for over 90% of energy procurement.
Energy advice throughout Finland
The Green Fingerprint campaign jointly implemented by Helsingin Energia, WWF Finland and Motiva challenged the people of Finland to save energy and that way to slow down the climate change. During the campaign, Finnish people made over 15,000 energy pledges and the website had 28,000 visitors in three weeks. The online service promotes energy saving and is available to all Finns, in the same way as the impartial Energy Advisory Centre of Helsingin Energia, which served about 55,000 people in 2008.
