Case 21.11.2019

Growth Engine Flexens is building regions working on 100% renewable energy

In collaboration with an extensive group of companies, Flexens is engaged in creating solutions where the energy needs of a full society can be met using renewable sources only. With the help of the capital loan granted by Business Finland, Flexens will develop an ecosystem of companies that brings together all the actors needed to build a 100% renewable energy system.

Due to climate change, the energy production system is being transformed. The role of wind and solar power is rapidly increasing, creating strains on the system in an growing number of societies. Flexens Oy Ab is organising an ecosystem that will bring society's different actors in the energy system together to solve the problems caused by this transition.

"Flexens was founded to solve challenges related to the use of sustainable energy sources worldwide. The solutions involve all energy sectors, such as buildings, transportation, the power grid and heating systems such as district heating networks. The key is to have all actors work together for a common goal," says Berndt Schalin, CEO of Flexens.

Flexens is in the process of developing a solution that is scalable to societies of various sizes. Thus, the solutions offered by the ecosystem can be used for solving global problems.

THE QUEST TO CONQUER THE WORLD WILL BEGIN WITH THE HELP OF GROWTH ENGINE FUNDING

The Finnish company Flexens received a capital loan as one of the winners of the Business Finland competitive bidding for Growth Engines. The Growth Engine funding is aimed at developing new innovation-driven business amounting to billions of euros of new exports and investments to Finland.

"Flexens can generate business amounting to billions, because the project involves a large number of companies from all relevant areas of technology. The developed solutions have excellent scalability to major international projects," Schalin says.

With the help of the capital loan, Flexens can make the energy transition a reality.
"The funding from Business Finland allows us to create success in the global market, as we now can make investments in developing the technologies and build the required competencies. It also makes it possible for us to recruit world-class experts," Schalin says.

THE ÅLAND ISLANDS SERVING AS PILOTING PLATFORM

Flexens' journey starts with the Smart Energy Åland demo, where the Åland Islands as a whole function as a piloting platform for the energy system. The lessons learned together with the ecosystem of companies engaged in building the Åland demo will be the cornerstone of the successful export of the solutions.

The Åland Islands were selected as the demo environment as the result of a systematic analysis. As a self-governed society, the Åland Islands offers a natural "regulatory sandbox", and in addition the region has the best wind and solar conditions in Finland.

"Very soon 60 per cent of electricity needed by the Åland Islands will be generated by wind power. The goal is a situation where 100 per cent of power production is based on renewable energy sources," Schalin says.

What sets the project apart from most other island demo's is the fact that the Åland Islands are a full-scale society with all relevant elements and functions. Therefore, the solutions created can be scaled up to societies of various sizes. The project will result in a cost-efficient, flexible and sustainable energy system.

"It is a unique that we can show the world that an entire society can function relying on wind and solar power alone. Nobody has done that before," Schalin says.

Berndt Schalin presented Flexens at the Growth Engine event on 13 September 2019:

See the video (YouTube, in Finnish)
Read the presentation material (pdf, mostly in Finnish)

Business Finland uses the name Growth Engine to describe cooperation networks − ecosystems − aimed at new business activities amounting to more than one billion euros. Growth Engines are implemented through an enterprise-driven partnership model between companies, research organizations and public actors, which strives to find solutions to global market disruption and create new growth sectors in Finland.
Read more about Growth Engines