Finland’s clean energy helps generate billion-euro Chinese investment

Ningbo Shanshanis planning a battery chemical plant – one of the largest plant in Europe – in an undisclosed Finnish location. The integration base for the anode materials of lithium ion batteries is to have an annual output of 100 000 tonnes, the company wrote in a release.

The company’s interest in Finland is two-fold: access to cost-effective and environmentally friendly energy sources and strategic positioning that enables it to better serve its European customers.

While the investment announcement is a significant development, there are several steps yet to be taken before the project is realised.

“After the location is selected, the environmental effects of the plant and the financing of the project will be evaluated,” said Markku Kivistö, head of cleantech industry at Business Finland, in an interview with the Finnish daily Helsingin Sanomat.

“We are in a situation where they have chosen Finland as the location, and now the work is just starting,” Kivistö emphasised.

The news comes as Finland places itself at the forefront of the battery sector, boosted by significant recent investments in industrial production and green innovations and the presence of skilled foreign talent.

“In Finland there has already been a long history of mutual collaboration between companies and universities for the greater good,” said Ben Wilson, a UK-born staff scientist at Aalto University.

“This phenomenon has only increased in recent years in areas like the battery community as it has become clearer that the challenges are something that can be solved by working together,” he added.