Lounavoima Oy

What Lounavoima Oy does

Lounavoima Oy is a Finnish waste-to-energy utility established in 2017 and headquartered in Salo, Finland. The company operates the Korvenmäki eco-power plant, which began commercial operations in spring 2021 and converts up to 135,000 tonnes per year of non-recyclable municipal waste into district heating (180-190 GWh/year, supplying nearly 90% of Salo's district heating) and electricity (~62-72 GWh/year) for the national grid. The plant uses combustion at 1,200°C with multi-phase flue gas treatment, combined heat and power (CHP) generation, and a pioneering geothermal deep heat storage system (six wells at 1.6-2 km depth via QHeat technology, 8-14 GWh/year output).

Lounavoima is a privately held Finnish limited company owned by two shareholders: Lounais-Suomen Jätehuolto Oy (LSJH), representing 18 municipalities with a combined population of 450,000, and Salon Kaukolämpö Oy, owned by the City of Salo and serving ~15,200 residents. The company operates under the Mankala cost-price model, providing services to its shareholders at cost without profit margin. Revenue streams include district heating sales to Salon Kaukolämpö, electricity sales to the national grid (Fingrid), and waste processing fees from LSJH and international waste suppliers.

Beyond energy production, Lounavoima drives the Lounapuisto Circular Economy Park and pursues development projects including biological methanation for CO2-to-biomethane conversion (Q Power), slag processing (Salon Hyötykäyttö partnership, 20,000 t/year), and an Italian waste fuel import trial launched in October 2025. The company employs 11-50 staff and is led by Managing Director Petri Onikki and COO Janne Huovinen, both ex-Fortum. Key outcomes include a 50% reduction in Salo's district heating CO2 emissions, ~19% reduction in district heating prices since plant commissioning, and ~99% repurposing of bottom slag.

Name

Lounavoima Oy

Legal name

Lounavoima Oy

Website

https://lounavoima.fi

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Lounavoima Oy is a Finnish waste-to-energy utility that operates the Korvenmäki plant in Salo, converting up to 135,000 tonnes/year of non-recyclable municipal waste into district heating (nearly 90% of Salo's supply) and electricity. It is owned by municipal shareholders LSJH and Salon Kaukolämpö under a Mankala cost-price model.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Waste-to-Energy and District Heating Services

NAICS

Solid Waste Combustors and Incinerators (562213), Steam and Air-Conditioning Supply (22133)

SIC

Cogeneration Services & Small Power Producers (4991), Sanitary Services (4950)

akta.pro primary industry

Waste-to-Energy CHP (Municipal/Industrial Waste Incineration) (EUACAKAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) Incineration & Energy Recovery (EUACAIAA), Industrial & Commercial Waste Incineration (Non-hazardous) (EUAAAKAC), Subtitle: Waste Treatment & Disposal — Sub-industries (L4) (EUAIACAA)

Keywords

• Waste-to-energy services
• District heating supply
• Municipal waste incineration
• Combined heat power
• Circular economy solutions

Headquarters

HQ city

Salo

HQ country

Finland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Infrastructure, Personnel, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. District Heating Sales: The WtE plant produces 180–190 GWh/year of district heating supplied to Salon Kaukolämpö Oy, which distributes it to approximately 15,200 residents in Salo. The company operates under the Mankala principle, providing services to its shareholders at cost-price.
2. Electricity Sales: The plant generates approximately 62 GWh/year of electricity, with most sold to the national grid. A portion is used in the plant's own processes.
3. Waste Treatment Services: The plant handles up to 135,000 tonnes/year of non-recyclable mixed municipal waste from LSJH's catchment area. Revenue covers operational costs under the Mankala model.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Lounavoima Oy operates the Korvenmäki eco-power plant (Ekovoimalaitos), a waste-to-energy facility in Salo, Finland, that incinerates up to 135,000 tonnes per year of non-recyclable mixed municipal waste to produce 180–190 GWh of district heating (covering nearly 90% of Salo's needs) and approximately 62–72 GWh of electricity for the national grid. The company also runs a deep geothermal heat storage system, slag/ash recovery operations, and the Hehku visitor centre, operating under the Mankala cost-price model on behalf of its two municipal shareholders (LSJH and Salon Kaukolämpö Oy).

Product overview

Lounavoima Oy operates the Korvenmäki Waste-to-Energy Plant (Ekovoimalaitos), a waste-to-energy facility that converts non-recyclable municipal waste into local energy. The core offering consists of district heating (producing nearly 90% of Salo's needs) and electricity for the national grid. Supporting services include geothermal heat storage for seasonal heat management, slag/ash processing for material recovery, and the Hehku visitor centre for environmental education. The company operates under the Mankala cost-price model, providing services to its shareholders Lounais-Suomen Jätehuolto Oy and Salon Kaukolämpö Oy.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Hehku: Visitor center at Korvenmäki eco-power plant (named 'Hehku' in Finnish, 'Glöd' in Swedish). The visitor center allows visitors to explore sustainable consumption habits, recycling, waste utilization, and learn about the waste-to-energy plant and energy production.

Products and services

• Korvenmäki Waste-to-Energy Plant Operations Core waste-to-energy service operating the Korvenmäki incineration facility in Salo, Finland, providing waste treatment, district heating, and electricity generation under the Mankala cost-price model for municipal shareholders.
• District Heating Supply District heating generated from waste combustion and supplied to Salon Kaukolämpö Oy, covering nearly 90% of Salo's district heating demand at a 50% lower CO2 intensity than prior fossil-fuel sources.
• Electricity Generation Combined-heat-and-power electricity generated from waste combustion, primarily supplied to the national grid via Fingrid.
• Geothermal Heat Storage Deep geothermal seasonal heat storage service using QHeat medium-deep well technology across six wells at 1.6–2 km depth, capturing excess summer heat for winter district-heating use.
• Slag and Ash Processing Processing of boiler bottom slag and ash residues to recover metals for recycling and mineral matter for construction use, achieving approximately 99% repurposing of bottom slag.
• Hehku Visitor Centre Tours Bookable group and public tours at the Hehku/Glöd visitor centre adjacent to the Korvenmäki plant, providing education on waste utilisation, recycling, and circular-economy operations.

Quantifiable outcome

• 90% of Salo's district heating produced from waste-to-energy
• +7 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

16 partnerships are on record, tiered minor, core and supporting.

• Brüning GroupminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 October 2025German logistics company that arranges and manages the transport of processed Italian waste fuel to Lounavoima's Korvenmäki plant in sealed containers. Acts as LSJH's contracted logistics partner for international waste shipments.
• Salon HyötykäyttöcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 September 2025Five-year slag processing partnership. Salon Hyötykäyttö processes up to 20,000 t/year of ash slag from the WtE plant at its Metsäjaanu facility. Metals are extracted for recycling; mineral matter goes to earthwork. Partnership involves joint investment of 3–4 million euros.
• Yrityssalo (Turku University of Applied Sciences, University of Turku)supportingStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 December 2021Lounapuisto Circular Economy Park project (ERDF-funded, 2021–2023) was managed by Yrityssalo with Turku AMK, University of Turku, and Lounavoima as co-implementers. The project developed the circular economy ecosystem around the WtE plant.
• Geomachine OysupportingTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2021Finnish company that developed new drilling equipment for the project, enabling the reaching of 2 km target depth for the geothermal heat wells.
• Calefa OysupportingTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2021Finnish company that delivered the heat pump process for the geothermal heat wells at Lounavoima.
• Quantitative Heat Oy (QHeat)coreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2020Finnish developer of medium-deep geothermal heat well technology. Provided the patented technology for the six deep heat wells (1.6–2 km) at Lounavoima's WtE plant for seasonal heat storage (8–14 GWh/year). Project received 3 million euros in Ministry of Economic Affairs investment support.
• Q PowercoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2019Finnish bioenergy company that developed biological methanation technology to convert landfill gas and WtE plant CO2 into biomethane/traffic fuel. Conducted successful trials at Korvenmäki. Technology uses microbiota isolated from marshland and can process sulphur-rich gases.
• Gasum OysupportingStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2019Finnish energy company exploring the possibility of extracting biogas (biodegradable fraction of combustible waste) from LSJH's mixed waste for biogas production. A techno-economic pre-study compared Topinoja (Turku) and Korvenmäki (Salo) sites.
• Qvidja Kraft AbsupportingTechnology or Integration · 1 April 2019Finnish company with gasification technology for converting various waste streams and carbon dioxide from the WtE plant into biomethane/traffic fuel. Exploring use of landfill gas as raw material.
• Steinmüller Babcock Environment GmbHcoreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2019German plant supplier that delivered the grate boiler and steam turbine for the WtE plant. Technology previously implemented in Finland at the Tammervoima WtE plant.
• Lühr Filter GmbHcoreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2019German company that supplied the flue gas treatment systems for the Korvenmäki WtE plant.
• Konecranes Finland OysupportingTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2019Finnish company that supplied the grab cranes that feed waste into the boiler for combustion at the WtE plant.
• Fira OysupportingImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 1 January 2019Finnish construction company responsible for foundation work, waste reception hall, waste bunker, and the separate office, maintenance, and visitor centre building. Approximately 40% domestic content in the plant.
• ÅF-Consult OysupportingTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2018Selected as the preliminary design consultant for the Korvenmäki WtE plant. ÅF had strong experience in similar project pre-design and implementation (e.g., Tammervoima, Riikinvoima WtE plants).
• Lounais-Suomen Jätehuolto Oy (LSJH)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2017LSJH is a joint owner of Lounavoima and the primary supplier of non-recyclable municipal waste. LSJH is owned by 18 municipalities with 450,000 combined population. LSJH also arranges international waste imports (e.g., from Italy via Brüning Group) and co-invests in circular economy projects at Lounapuisto.
• Salon Kaukolämpö OycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2017Salon Kaukolämpö Oy is a joint owner of Lounavoima and the sole distributor of the district heating produced by the WtE plant. Owned by the City of Salo, it serves ~15,200 residents. It is the primary funder of the geothermal heat storage project.

Scale indicators14 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights10 records

Direct peers

• Tammervoima (Tampereen Energia): Tampereen Energia's Tammervoima WtE plant uses Steinmüller Babcock boiler technology (the same supplier as Korvenmäki) and is explicitly cited in Lounavoima's pre-design references as a comparable Finnish WtE facility.
• Lahti Energia Oy: Lahti Energia operates WtE and combined heat and power capacity supplying district heating in the Lahti region, with comparable waste-to-energy and CHP characteristics to Lounavoima's Korvenmäki plant.
• Turku Energia (Turun Seudun Energiantuotanto Oy): Operates the Topinoja WtE plant in Turku and was specifically referenced in Lounavoima materials as a comparable Finnish WtE site. Same MSW-to-district-heating value proposition in Southwest Finland.
• Westenergy Oy (Vaasan Energia): Westenergy operates the Mustasaari WtE plant on Finland's west coast, supplying district heating to Vaasa. Closely analogous Finnish municipal-utility WtE setup producing both district heat and electricity.
• Vantaan Energia Oy: Vantaan Energia operates the Långmossebacken waste-to-energy plant near Helsinki, converting non-recyclable municipal waste into district heating and electricity under a municipal-ownership model directly comparable to Lounavoima's setup.
• Riikinvoima Oy: Riikinvoima operates a WtE plant in Kuopio for East-Central Finland municipalities and is referenced in ÄF-Consult's prior project portfolio alongside Lounavoima. Direct municipal-shareholder WtE comparison.

Regional players

• ARC (Amager Resource Center): ARC operates the Amager Bakke (Copenhill) WtE plant in Copenhagen with combined heat and power and waste-handling functions. Comparable integrated WtE-plus-district-energy operator in another Nordic capital-region market.

Broad incumbents

• Fortum Oyj: Fortum operates multiple WtE assets in Finland and the Baltics and is the former employer of Lounavoima's MD and COO. Direct technology overlap but a much broader utility and renewables portfolio.
• Helen Oy (Helsinki Energy): Helen operates the Salmisaari and Hanasaari WtE/CHP plants in Helsinki and is Finland's largest district heating producer. Overlapping WtE and CHP operations but at significantly larger scale and broader portfolio.
• EEW Energy from Waste GmbH: EEW is one of Europe's largest waste-to-energy operators, running multiple MSW incineration plants producing district heat and electricity. Comparable technology stack and product mix, but at substantially larger scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/lounavoima
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/lounavoima

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Lounavoima Oy