ViaCon Finland invests in its own renewable energy solution at ViaCon’s Vimpeli, Finland factory.
For ViaCon Group, sustainability means nothing if we are not actively implementing solutions to make ourselves more sustainable and less reliant on non-renewable resources. While one of ViaCon’s key drivers is enabling sustainable infrastructure for our customers, we continue to look for ways to improve and reduce our own carbon footprint.
The challenge: Starting the green transition in Finland
With ambitious carbon reduction and renewable energy targets as part of the ViaCon ESG outlook, everyone within ViaCon Group actively looks for ways to deliver sustainable solutions that also provide economic and efficiency benefits.
ViaCon as a company aims to move toward a carbon-neutral future, and Finland invested to act on this aim by introducing a solar panel installation project at the factory in Vimpeli, Finland. The CAPEX proposal was made in Q4-2022 and approved early in February 2023.
ViaCon’s first solar panels
Installation at the ViaCon factory in Vimpeli, Finland started in Q2 of 2023 and helped the factory take its first big step toward greater sustainability.
Installation faced certain obstacles, such as delays in delivery. Delivery of the solar panel system was delayed due to the increased demand for solar panels during 2022’s energy crisis.
Despite challenges, installation went smoothly, and electricity production started in June.
The system will produce about 90,000kWh of electricity per year, while the factory consumes about 700,000kWh.
“This is the first solar panel system at ViaCon, and I am glad we got the CAPEX approval to do this,” explained Juha Ylipekka, Finland’s Operations Manager. “At the idea level, we have planned solar panels for a couple of years but finally we got to start taking action on building the system last autumn.”
The advantage of going green:
Cost–effective carbon reduction
According to ViaCon’s COO Lars Jonsson, “The project highlights one important step in ViaCon’s active journey toward fulfilling our ambitious sustainability agenda, which is important to us as a company and to our customers – who are increasingly aware of and interested in the green transition.”
In addition to tangibly driving the sustainability agenda, the investment contributes positively to energy cost savings and raises the overall awareness of energy use.
