Posts Tagged ‘Finland’
ICEYE and the Jane Goodall Institute deploy SAR-based deforestation monitoring to protect Congo Basin wildlife habitats
ICEYE, the world leader in sovereign intelligence from space, has entered a partnership with the Jane Goodall Institute USA (JGI) to deploy its Deforestation Solution across conservation corridors in the Congo Basin, with initial operations focused on the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The eastern DRC is often called the “green heart” of Africa. Its vast rainforests, the world’s second largest, are a critical habitat for chimpanzees, harboring an estimated 70,000 to 100,000 individuals. The Congo Basin region also has the most diverse ape population in the world. Yet these primates face significant threats from bushmeat hunting, habitat loss due to mining and deforestation, and civil conflict.
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Originally published on 22 Apr
Read MoreMeyer Turku’s New MERiON Program Guides the Maritime Industry Amid Upheavals
For the second time, the Finnish shipyard Meyer Turku has been selected for Business Finland’s leading company funding program, which challenges companies to increase their research, development, and innovation (RDI) investments in Finland. Meyer Turku’s MERiON – Future‑Ready Cruise Ships and Floating Infrastructure program will be implemented between 2026 and 2030.
MERiON continues Meyer Turku’s long-term RDI efforts following the previous NEcOLEAP program. The long-term objective of the new program is to ensure that Turku remains at the forefront of modern and technologically advanced shipbuilding also in the decades to come.
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Originally published on 21 Apr
Read MoreForeign investment increased in Finland in 2025
According to preliminary data from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), global foreign direct investment (FDI) increased by a total of 14% in 2025, to approximately USD 1.6 trillion globally. Growth is driven particularly by data center projects, which already account for more than a fifth of all greenfield investments globally. However, without data centers, the real growth rate would be only about 5%, which still indicates a challenging investment climate. In addition to data centers, the semiconductor industry was almost the only one with global growth. Investments related to semiconductors increased by 35% internationally.
In Finland, the volume of investments increased sharply after three years of decline. According to the monitoring of Invest in Finland, which operates as part of Business Finland, 527 investment projects of foreign companies were located in Finland in 2025, which is 160 more than in the previous year. Investment projects include new foreign companies established in Finland and further investments made by foreign-owned companies already operating in Finland. Foreign currency statistics for Finland will be obtained from Statistics Finland in September 2026.
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Originally published on 14 Apr
Read MoreEIB lends €100 million to Finnish company Orion Pharma for new cancer and pain treatments
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is lending €100 million to Finnish pharmaceutical company Orion Pharma to develop new treatments for cancer, pain and other serious conditions with few treatment options.
The financing will support Orion Pharma’s research and development activities across its European centres, covering personnel costs, clinical trials, patenting and investments in specialised laboratory equipment. By reinforcing Orion Pharma’s long-term R&D capacity, the EIB is helping strengthen Europe’s competitiveness in advanced biopharmaceutical innovation.
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Originally published on 15 Apr
Read MoreGasum and Wasaline continue bio-LNG agreement through 2027
Nordic energy company Gasum and shipping company Wasaline have extended their agreement for bio-LNG supply to continue through 2027. This agreement continues to strengthen the companies’ long-standing partnership.
It also underlines both companies’ commitment to developing cleaner maritime transport. Wasaline runs a carbon neutral shipping corridor between Finland and Sweden, as the company’s vessel Aurora Botnia uses batteries and biogas to operate the route. Gasum supplies the vessel with bio-LNG.
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Originally published on 13 Apr
Read MoreEU Project Explored: Could Electric Vehicle Batteries Have Second-Life as Energy Storages?
By the end of 2025, the EU area already had nearly 8.5 million all-electric vehicles in total—including passenger cars, vans, trucks, and buses. The total capacity of these batteries is hundreds of gigawatt hours. This volume corresponds to 1.5 hours of all electricity consumption in the whole of Europe.
A large portion of the battery capacity would still be usable even when the vehicles reach the end of their lifespan. Lithium-ion batteries of end-of-life vehicles would have significant capacity remaining for stationary Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS).
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Originally published on 14 Apr
Read More200,000 people have travelled Finnlines’ Sweden–Poland route as it marks 2 years
Since launching its ferry route between Malmö and Świnoujście on April 10, 2024, Finnlines has transported over 200,000 passengers and drivers in its first two years of operation. To mark the two-year milestone, Finnlines is adding an extra Saturday evening departure from Malmö on April 18 and April 25, bringing the total to two departures on those dates.
“Reaching over 200,000 passengers and drivers in just two years is a testament to the strength of this route. We have seen a steady increase in demand as more discover the convenience of a direct connection between Malmö, a key hub in southern Sweden close to Copenhagen, and northern Poland, with easy access to Germany,” says Marco Palmu, Head of Passenger Services at Finnlines.
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Originally published on 8 Apr
Read MoreEuroports unveils Koverhar: a large-scale industrial hub for offshore wind in the Baltic
During the WindEurope Offshore Helsinki conference last week, Euroports presented the development of the port of Koverhar, located in the Port of Hanko area, Finland, as the next-generation industrial hub for Finland, Sweden and across the Baltic Sea.
The port of Koverhar is designed to address a key structural gap in the market: the lack of integrated, industrial-scale port infrastructure capable of supporting both fabrication and marshalling activities.
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Originally published on 8 Apr
Read MoreDual-use infrastructure Sweden and Finland are considering a bridge over the Gulf of Bothnia
As far as building 100km bridges go, spanning the Kvarken, a narrowing of the northern Gulf of Bothnia, would be an easy task. Thanks to relatively shallow water, a generally firm seabed and an archipelago on the Finnish side, the challenge would lie less in getting the thing built than it would with coming up with the billions euros it would cost. (Estimates range from €5bn to €100bn.)
For that reason, when the idea has come up in the past, it has been easy for lawmakers in Sweden and in Finland to dismiss it as a costly white elephant that would have little benefit compared with the existing ferry service.
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These days, though, the calculus that drives the cost-benefit analyses of such projects has a new variable: security. Where the idea of a better-connected region has long been framed in economic terms, a bridge across the Kvarken is increasingly being discussed as a way for Finns to remain connected to Europe in the event Russian shenanigans render the Finnish-Swedish land border unusable.
For now, a Kvarken bridge remains well over the horizon: a report published last year by Finland’s transport ministry reckons that the earliest one could be open for traffic would be the early 2040s. Still, proponents are bullish: the same report found a bridge was technically feasible and laid the foundation for an assessment of its economic benefits. A journey of a hundred kilometres begins with a single report.
FURTHER READING
} Fixed link across the Kvarken discussed in the Swedish Parliament (Kvarkenrådet)
} The €30-billion bid to link Finland to the wider EU (The Parliament)
} Finland wants to build a bridge across the Baltic Sea to Sweden for better connections to Europe (Euronews)
} Huge bridge between Sweden and Finland back on the drawing board (Ingeniøren)
} Kvarken Fixed Connection Feasibility Study (Väylävirasto)
Read MoreFFS2 project delivers solutions to decarbonise steel production
VTT has published its key results from the national Towards Fossil‑Free Steel (FFS2) project as part of the consortium final report. VTT’s work in FFS2 focused on solutions that help steel producers replace fossil fuels and make full use of industrial side streams in a future fossil‑free value chain.
The transition to fossil free steel requires not only new energy sources, but also system level solutions that work on an industrial scale. In the FFS2 project, VTT has addressed this challenge by developing and validating technologies that integrate electrification, hydrogen and circular material flows into existing and future steelmaking processes. The results strengthen the technological basis for industrial decision making and support a faster, lower risk transition towards fossil-free steel production
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Originally published on 7 Apr
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