Finnish district heating experts join forces
Finpro's new District Heating internationalization program is combining the expertise of Finnish companies into an export product. The program’s latest report examined the export opportunities available to Finnish companies in the district heating markets of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary and China.
“Although international surveys show that Finland has been one of the leading countries in joint production of heat and electricity and district heating utilization for several years now, district heating expertise has not yet become an important export product. The bottleneck in terms of export efforts has been the fragmented nature of the sector in Finland. Now, we have succeeded in bringing together Finnish companies in order to offer comprehensive solutions internationally," explains Finpro’s leading consultant Arto Nuorkivi.
The competence of the 13 Finnish companies taking part in the internationalization program provides a concept that covers district heating and cooling equipment, production, system management, service, and consulting.
Finnish strengths lie in comprehensive solutions
“Growth in China and the renewal of district heating systems in Central Eastern Europe as well as in Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia increase international demand in the district heating sector. Our new study shows that Russia, China, Poland and Kazakhstan will be particularly interesting countries for Finnish companies,” says project manager Kari Vähäkangas from Finpro.
Renewal of district heating systems will open up significant opportunities for Finnish companies, especially in Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia where modernization work has been neglected over the past 20 years. For example, Russia has approximately 50,000 district heating systems, many of which are in poor technical condition and uneconomic. On the other hand, the rapid urbanization in China is creating demand for new systems.
“Finland is competing with Denmark, Sweden, and Germany for the same markets. Our strength in comparison to our competitors is the ability to offer comprehensive expertise. Our price competitiveness is based on the reliability of the systems and lifecycle thinking. One of the key challenges when exporting district heating expertise is being able to demonstrate how the benefits exceed the expensive start-up costs and long payback times on investments," says Vähäkangas.
For further information:
Arto Nuorkivi, Leading Consultant, Finpro, tel: +358 41 456 88 93, arto.nuorkivi@finpro.fi
Helena Sarén, Senior Consultant, Finpro, tel: +358 40 343 3324, helena.saren@finpro.fi
Kari Vähäkangas, Head of Trade Center, Finpro, tel: +36 1 209 9780, kari.vahakangas@finpro.fi
Finpro is a globally operating organization which helps Finnish companies grow internationally and successfully. Finpro has over 350 professionals working in 66 offices in more than 40 countries. Finpro serves companies by enabling them to be at the right markets at the right time with a competitive offering and concept.
Finpro’s active Foresight work, internationalization expertise, competitive services and global network provide an excellent platform for the development of Finnish companies’ international business and competitiveness. In addition to the assignments for Finnish companies, Finpro manages substantial international initiatives such as Cleantech Finland, Future Learning Finland, and FinNode. www.finpro.fi
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