Finland’s Chance to Lead: Uusimaa’s Regional Plan Highlights the Green Energy Transition
The green transition and the wider energy transformation across Europe will shape the future of Finland and the continent. Few regions are better placed to lead this change than Uusimaa, which already has strong expertise in energy technology, grid engineering, and industrial decarbonisation. One area stands out: Eastern Uusimaa, the coastal area east of Helsinki centred on Porvoo, part of Uusimaa region, and home to the Kilpilahti industrial area, one of the largest integrated industrial and refining hubs in the Nordics.
A regional plan as a compass for the energy shift
Uusimaa region’s land-use plan plays a clear role in moving away from fossil fuels toward a distributed, low-emission energy system. It can help identify areas for wind and solar power, guide new energy infrastructure, and support local energy production and better building efficiency. The region council is also preparing VISIO, Uusimaa’s fifth phase regional plan, which supplements the existing plan on six themes, energy among them, under an “innovative green transition” banner.
The challenge is clear: Uusimaa has 1.8 million residents, making it Finland’s most densely populated region, but its urban layout leaves little space for local renewable energy generation. As a result, the region relies heavily on transmission networks that bring in power from other parts of the country. This reliance is making grid capacity a bigger policy issue for four main reasons: making the most of renewable energy, improving supply security, protecting green-transition investments, and handling the landscape and social acceptance issues that come with new energy infrastructure.
Kilpilahti: a live example of the stakes involved
Nowhere are those stakes more visible than in Kilpilahti, the industrial and refining complex in Porvoo that anchors Eastern Uusimaa’s economy. Industrial operators and energy companies there are preparing major green-transition investments toward carbon-neutral operations, plans that hinge on adequate electricity transmission capacity.
Business community sets the bar higher
The Helsinki Region Chamber of Commerce has shared its goals for the government’s 2027–2031 programme, with energy as a key focus. It urges the state to boost national grid capacity and invest in transmission links to Uusimaa, arguing that the region’s growth and industrial transformation depend on adequate power infrastructure.
The Chamber also wants Uusimaa to commit, consistently across electoral cycles, to becoming a carbon-neutral, resource-wise economy – a stable target it says gives companies confidence to invest in renewables, efficiency and the circular economy. That predictability needs faster, better-resourced permitting, with land-use planning keeping pace with green-transition projects. Rather than a cost, the Chamber frames the transition as an opportunity, encouraging Helsinki-region firms to invest in clean, low-emission solutions to strengthen export competitiveness.
A shared opportunity – if the pieces come together
All these efforts – the regional plan, the big projects in Kilpilahti, and the Chamber’s call for faster permitting and better grid investment – show that Finland has the industry, technical skills, and growing policy focus needed to lead Europe’s energy transformation. Whether this potential is achieved will depend on how well regional planning, national grid investment, and government policy work together. Eastern Uusimaa and Kilpilahti will likely be early examples of how well this coordination can succeed.
The Chamber is acting on that conviction: it is launching a study with regional stakeholders to lay the groundwork for an Eastern Uusimaa energy cluster, building on Kilpilahti’s industrial base to turn the area into an organized hub for energy investment. The report is due in January 2027.
Outi Toivanen
Leading sustainability advisor
Helsinki Region Chamber of Commerce
