We advised the Finnish Climate Fund in three separate financing arrangements in the autumn of 2021. In these arrangements, the Finnish Climate Fund invested a total of EUR 16.5 million in Finnish growth companies with solutions that have significant emissions reduction potential in the hydrogen and circular economies over the coming decades.
Aurelia Turbines
The Finnish Climate Fund has decided on a EUR 5 million capital loan to Aurelia Turbines Oy to speed up the deployment of more efficient industrial gas turbines. For the first time, the Climate Fund’s funding includes a sustainability incentive.
Aurelia Turbines makes more efficient gas turbines for industrial needs. These gas turbines have been designed to flexibly use various degrees of hydrogen and other energy sources.
Hydrogen will play an important role in the transition towards a low-carbon society. The hydrogen economy will be built on a value chain of hydrogen production, storage, transport and utilisation. Aurelia Turbines’ solution is estimated to have a cumulative emissions reduction potential of around 1.5 Mt CO2e over a ten-year period.
In addition to emissions reduction, the Finnish Climate Fund’s financing will support the development of the hydrogen cluster in Finland.
Betolar
The Climate Fund has granted a EUR 7 million capital loan to materials technology company Betolar Oyj. The investment—the Climate Fund’s first in a digital solution—will be allocated to a marketplace with major emissions reduction potential.
Cement production is one of the greatest emission sources caused by human activity, accounting for roughly 7% of global carbon dioxide emissions annually. The significant emissions reduction potential of Betolar’s solution is based on replacing virgin raw materials with existing industrial side streams, which could reduce emissions caused by the raw materials of concrete by up to 80% compared to traditional concrete products
The digital platform is intended as a digital marketplace for Betolar’s solution as well as a meeting place for side stream suppliers and concrete manufacturers. This digital marketplace can enable significant emissions reductions to be realised sooner and on a larger scale.
Magsort
The Finnish Climate Fund granted a EUR 4.5 million capital loan to Magsort Oy’s circular economy solution to utilise steel industry side streams.
Steel and concrete production are significant sources of emissions. With Magsort’s solution, almost all metal can be recovered from waste slag—and in the future the remaining slag could even be ground into cement.
The more efficient utilisation of steel slag in industry not only creates considerable export potential but also major cumulative emissions reduction potential over the next decade, as much as 7.5 MtCO2e.
The Finnish Climate Fund is a Finnish state-owned special-assignment company. Its operations focus on combating climate change, boosting low-carbon industry and promoting digitalisation. Approximately 65% of the Climate Fund’s investments relate to climate change and about 35% to climate-related digitalisation.
