Neoen Renewables Finland Oy is exploring the possibility of building an electricity storage facility in the Visulahti area of Mikkeli. The company has leased a 6.3-hectare plot of land from the City of Mikkeli for this purpose, and the lease agreement has entered into force on 15 September 2023.

Neoen Renewables Finland Oy is part of a global renewable energy company with operations in 18 countries. The company already has a 30 Megawatt energy storage facility in the Finnish city of Lappeenranta, which was the largest in continental Europe when it was completed. The leased site in Mikkeli would allow the construction of a much larger energy storage facility. The lease agreement allows for further studies on the suitability of the site for the electricity storage project.

The energy storage facilities will be used to balance the fluctuations in renewable energy production and to regulate the frequency of the electricity grid in order to keep the Finnish national grid stable. The batteries will act as a fast-response backup power. Similar backup power is currently produced, for example, at the Huutokoski gas turbine plant in Joroinen.

The City of Mikkeli sees the potential Neoen project as welcome and appropriate for the development of the Visulahti industrial area. The Visulahti area offers excellent connectivity to the national electricity grid and this type of green transition project is well suited to Mikkeli, says the city’s director of land use and planning, Topiantti Äikäs.

– The Neoen project could also bring other electricity-intensive activities to the area in the future,” says Äikäs.

Additional information:

 

Topiantti Äikäs, Director of land use and planning
Mikkelin kaupunki
Tel. +358 40 1295 152
topiantti.aikas@mikkeli.fi

Jussi Heinimö, Programme director
Mikkelin kehitysyhtiö Miksei Oy
Tel. +358 40 544 0936
jussi.heinimo@mikseimikkeli.fi