Report on operations

The Helen Group is a commercial entity that covers Helsingin Energia and its subsidiaries (100%) Helen Sähköverkko Oy, Mitox Oy, Oy Mankala Ab, the Helsingin Sähkötalo limited liability real estate company and Suomen Energia-Urakointi Oy (60%). The associated companies include Suomen Merituuli Oy, Voimapiha Oy and Finestlink Oy.

In the accounts of the City of Helsinki, Helsingin Energia is included in the city’s financial statements and the subsidiaries of the Helen Group are included in the financial statements of the Helsinki Group.  

As a municipal corporation, Helsingin Energia operates in the whole Finnish electricity market and in the Nordic electricity wholesale market. District heating covers over 90% of the heating demand in Helsinki, and district cooling is rapidly expanding in Helsinki. The operational model of Helsingin Energia is based on unbundled business and service operations in compliance with the Electricity Market Act, the Natural Gas Market Act and the Act on Competition Restrictions. The corner stones of Helsingin Energia’s business operations are competitiveness, operational reliability and environmental awareness.

Helsingin Energia generates electricity, heating and cooling for its customers at its own power plants located in Helsinki. In addition, the company procures electricity through its power assets. Energy-efficient combined heat and power generation at the power plants in the Helsinki area accounts for 68 % of the electricity supplied and 87% of the heat produced. The share of emission-free production forms out of the total energy acquired by Helsingin Energia increased during the year, due to the hydro  power capacity bought from Sweden. The share of hydro power of the total electricity acquired by Helsingin Energia was over 9%, 660 GWh. The carbon dioxide emissions of the energy production in Helsinki decreased by about 5% and were approximately 3.3 million tonnes.

The total electricity sales by Helsingin Energia, 7.5 TWh, remained at the same level as in the previous year. The warmer than average year decreased the production volume of district heating. The sales of district heating in 2013 were 6.4 TWh, which was 5% less than in the previous year. The production of district cooling that utilises sea water, the heat content in sewage water and the heat from combined production continued to grow. The district heating production volume was 116 GWh, which is 34% more than in the previous year.

The turnover of Helsingin Energia was EUR 747 million, a decrease of EUR 19 million on the previous year. The revenue from electricity sales decreased by EUR 6 million and revenue from heating sales by EUR 11 million. Other revenues include those from service sales, connection fees for heating, and gas sales.   

Subsidiaries 

Helen Sähköverkko Oy concentrates on electricity network operation in compliance with the Electricity Market Act and provides its customers with electricity transmission and distribution services in the Helsinki area. The network company’s turnover covers, approximately, 13% of the turnover of the Helen Group. The turnover of the review period was EUR 117 million. At the end of the year, the company had 104 employees.

The total consumption of electricity in Helsinki was 4.5 TWh (4.5 TWh in 2012).

Mitox Oy provides energy metering services for energy and real estate companies. The company provides the metering services required by Helsingin Energia and Helen Sähköverkko Oy. At the end of the year, the company employed 91 people.

The company operates in a competitive metering market. The total volume of the sector is growing.  The growth is due to the increasing investments in the remote reading of energy meters and the growing need for measuring, caused by the development of the electricity market.

In 2013, the company’s turnover was EUR 21 million. Most of the turnover was generated by selling metering services to the Helen Group.

Oy Mankala Ab is a production company, which owns the Mankala, Ahvenkoski, Klåsarö and Ediskoski hydro power plants along the Kymijoki river. Oy Mankala Ab owns a share of 8% of Teollisuuden Voima Oyj.

During the ooperating year, Mankala produced 153,935 MWh of energy, Ahvenkoski 136,965 MWh, Klåsarö 32,743 MWh and Ediskoski 3,017 MWh.

Oy Mankala Oy operates on the basis of the absorption principle. Its turnover for the financial year was EUR 34 million.

Real Estate Company Helsingin Sähkötalo is in charge of managing and developing the Sähkötalo real estate. Sähkötalo is also the HQ of Helsingin Energia.

Suomen Energia-Urakointi Oy is a service company specialized in electronic urban technology which provides planning, installation and user services related to the networks and equipment intended for the transmission, distribution and use of electricity and data transfer. Helsingin Energia owns approx. 60% of the company. The other owners are Vantaan Energia Oy and Lahti Energia Oy.

In 2013, the turnover was EUR 36 million. The business activities of the company consist of installation and design operations. Most of the volume is made up by installation operations, which mainly consist of the construction and maintenance of mid- and low-voltage networks, traffic lights and lighting networks. The focus of design activities is on outdoor lighting systems.

Group turnover 

The turnover for the operating year was EUR 878 million, showing a decrease of EUR 19 million on the previous year.

Expenses  

The total expenses excluding planned depreciations decreased by EUR 13 million. Fuel costs decreased by EUR 40 million compared to the previous year. Production for own use was worth EUR 5 million and the planned depreciations were EUR 79 million. The depreciation of the Group’s business value was EUR 3 million.

Non-current assets 

The investments of the Helen Group were, in total, EUR 108 million (EUR 130 million) in 2013. Helsingin Energia implemented several modernisations, improving the production output and energy efficiency of its power plants. The emission level of heating plants was decreased. 

The investments of district heating and cooling were EUR 29 million (EUR 33 million), power plant investments were EUR 11 million (EUR 28 million) and the investments of outdoor lighting were EUR 11 million (EUR 8 million). The investments included in the non-current assets were increased by the share subscription of Voimapiha Oy, EUR 60 million.

Profit trend 

The Group’s profit was EUR 239 million (EUR 236 million) and its share of the turnover was 27%. Profit before appropriations was EUR 227 million (EUR 222 million). Return on investment (ROI) was 15%, calculated according to the mean value of the capital invested in the operating year.

Key Figures

Environment and quality    

The cornerstones of Helsingin Energia’s business operations are highly reliable supply, environmental responsibility and the principles of sustainable development. Energy-efficient operations are based on the environmentally friendly combined production of electricity and heat and on district heating and cooling.

Centralized energy production is included in emission trade in the EU regulations. The future energy production solutions in Helsinki are affected by the City Board’s strategy, concerning the energy and climate policy. 

When implemented, the development programme compiled by Helsingin Energia will cover the climate policy goals set by the City Board and will pave the way towards a carbon-neutral future. A central factor in achieving the climate policy goals is to increase the current share of renewable forms of energy production in the current production structure. In accordance with its development programme, Helsingin Energia has begun the testing of wood pellet combustion in the Hanasaari power plant. Through the testing, the company prepares for the mixed fuel combustion in Hanasaari and Salmisaari power plants launched in 2014 and 2015 .

The tools for controlling the environmental impact include the ISO 14001 environmental system, applied by all the power plants, environment handbooks of the business units and Green Office environmental criteria for all office buildings. Helsingin Energia compiles a separate, unverified environmental balance statement.

Organisation of internal control and risk management

The management of Helsingin Energia is in charge of ensuring that functional risk management and internal control are exercised in the company, according to its scope and contents of operations.

Helsingin Energia has comprehensively assessed the most significant risks and factors of uncertainty, as well as other aspects that may affect the development of their actions, in relation to the scope and structure of their operations. Risk management recognizes the various risks and maintains documented operational instructions. It is essential that business-related risks are managed and that the related control actions are in order.

The internal control and risk management of the company is organized by making risk management a part of all operations. The control responsibility of risk management has been separated from the operative business and assigned to persons who are independent of operational business activities.

In regard to the energy trade of Helsingin Energia, the Board has verified the compiled operational principles and risk management instructions. The electricity market is highly volatile and it is estimated that its predictability will further decrease. Competition in the end customer markets will become keener. Fluctuations of electricity exchange prices will pose business risks in wholesale and retail sales as well as in  electricity procurement. Helsingin Energia is prepared for risks by hedging procurement and sales with derivatives.

The price trends of the fuel and emission trade cause a profitability risk, related to increasing production costs. Availability of fuel is another factor of uncertainty. The power plant real estates have been insured from the city’s insurance funds and their production is insured by taking out business interruption insurance.

Organisation and auditors

Pekka Manninen has acted as CEO of Helsingin Energia and Oy Manakala Ab, Risto Harjanne acted as Managing Director of Helen Sähköverkko Oy and Lassi Metsälä as Managing Director of Mitox Oy. Sami Aiho and Kyösti Oasmaa (since 1 December 2013) acted as  Managing Directors of Real Estate Company Helsingin Sähkötalo, and Taisto Lehonmaa as Managing Director of Suomen Energia-Urakointi Oy. The auditor of the Helen Group’s financial statements was KPMG Oy Ab. The accountable auditor was KHT, JHTT, Antti Kääriäinen.

Outlook for the future

The general economic situation is strongly reflected in the Helen Group’s operational plan and budget. The slow economical recovery in the Eurozone and Finland will make the following years challenging. Forecasting the operation in electricity markets and the cost impacts of fuel price trends include significant factors of uncertainty.

Strategies concerning the increasing of the share of renewable energy and the use of carbon dioxide emission-free and low-emission energy sources will create significant investment demands during the following years. The impact of the development programme on the profit development of the following years is prominently negative.

The continuation of Helsingin Energia’s development programme will be updated, so that by 2015, the City Council can make the decisions, based on the most up-to-date information, concerning the project plan related to the multi-fuel power plant at Vuosaari and the more extensive bio-fuel solution related to the current power plants at Salmisaari and Hanasaari. The new power plant will be available for production in the early 2020s.

If implemented, the development programme of Helsingin Energia will meet the set climate demands and create the conditions for a carbon-neutral future after the 2030s. The investments concerning the IE directive and the use of bio-fuel will be launched at the Hanasaari and Salmisaari power plants.
It is forecasted that the profit level of 2014 will decrease, compared to the previous year.

ompetitiveness is maintained through a stable investment programme that secures the efficiency and usability of productive assets. The total sum of the investment programme is EUR 93 million. The modernization projects of automation and electrification will be carried out in the Salmisaari and Vuosaari power plants.