Kymenlaakso Summit 2024: Nevel creates new growth opportunities in Kotka

Kymenlaakso Summit 2024 introduced the unique business environment the Kymenlaakso region has to offer companies and investors. As Nevel is planning to build a biogas plant in Kotka, Nevel’s Director of Industrial and Biogas BU Ville Koikkalainen was invited to join a panel discussion to explore how innovative industries are creating new opportunities for growth and investment in Kotka-Hamina region.

Nevel plans circular economy solutions in Kotka in cooperation with Kymen Vesi, the city of Kotka and the Kotka-Hamina region development company Cursor. The goal is to build a biogas plant with an annual energy production capacity of approximately 22 GWh. The plant would enable the utilization of side streams from industrial production and the municipality in the energy value chain. The facility is scheduled to be operational during 2026. The Ministry of Labor and the Economy has granted an investment subsidy of 4.7 million euros to the project.

The Kymenlaakso Summit organised by Cursor started with a keynote speech from the Minister of Defence Antti Häkkänen who talked about the historical importance of the region. The region has very good transport connection by land and by sea. The area is also the foundation of security when we talk about Finnish defense forces. Due to the proximity of large harbors and the city of Helsinki, the place attracts international markets as well.

Cursor’s Jarkko Hajula and Jukka Tani gave us a glimpse into key projects shaping the region.
The industrial transformation projects include companies from battery industry, hydrogen economy, biofuels, green energy and data centers. They also introduced the Power coast area where Google has its data center and employs almost 500 people. The waste heat of the data center is utilised in local district heating network. Inspired by Google, other data centers are already coming to the area.

Another important business is replacing fossils fuels. There’s already battery industry in the area but the ambitious goal is to build the world’s best battery cluster that will bring other battery factories to the area. The battery cluster has huge potential to bring large investments and thousands of new jobs.

The panel discussion introduced the emerging companies, from green technologies to advanced manufacturing, that are reshaping Kymenlaakso’s economic landscape. First Markku Kivistö, Head of Industry at Business Finland provided the audience with a global framework of international markets and what kind of opportunities growing green technology and manufacturing can offer for Finland and its different regions. Finland is number one in sustainability and we should be really proud of our expertise. Finland can become a gateway to Europe when talking about decarbonisation.

In the panel, we had industry leaders and public sector members to discuss region’s potential as an economic landscape to attract investments. Timo Strengell from Finnish Minerals Group represented the battery factory in Kotka and Nevel’s Ville Koikkalainen introduced Nevel’s plans to recycle local organic waste and build a biogas plant in Kotka.

The panel also talked about the importance of the collaboration between municipalities, industries and other stakeholders. Nevel offers infrastucture solutions to municipalities and Ville Koikkalainen emphasised that Finnish municipalities are quite growth oriented. They are the enablers of the circular economy, providing the ecosystem for the service providers. All the panelists agreed that public and business sector should work together even more strongly to make the region an ideal destination for Finnish and international talent and investment.