The Alma House entered the era of solar power

Located in the heart of Helsinki city centre, between the Töölönlahti Park and the railway station, which received a brand-new look in the summer, the Alma House has received a stylish solar power plant on its roof. The plant started to produce electricity for the property’s use on 3 September 2024.

Towards low-carbon society

Alma House was the first new office building in the Töölönlahti area when completed in 2012. In late 2023, Alma Media extended its ten-year lease agreement and decided to implement sustainable investments in the premises. In the summer of 2024, the house was renovated and upgraded in terms of materials and functionality, and the number of parking spaces in the property’s own parking garage was increased to 26.

At the same time, a solar power plant was built on the roof, which at its best produces all the electrical energy needed for building technology. The total amount of renewable, emission-free electricity produced by the solar power plant is estimated to be 100–120 megawatt hours per year which accounts for about 20% of the amount of electricity used by building technology and corresponds 10% of all the electricity used in Alma House on an annual basis.

“By comparison, the average electricity consumption of a 100-square-metre detached house in Finland is 5–20 megawatt hours per year, depending on the heating solution. However, it is good to remember that within a day and a year, production fluctuates strongly. In winter or at night, production can be 0% but in summer afternoons at best reach 100%”, say Jarno Lintunen, real estate consultant at Joscon Oy, who is responsible for the management and supervision of the renovation of the Alma House and Risto Jauhiainen, Alma’s Director of Procurement.

Jauhiainen illustrates the variability of production by showing the electricity produced by the first-day power plant from his mobile phone, where production ran at full capacity in the afternoon and when the sun went down it fell to zero.

“We are accelerating the transition to a low-carbon society in Alma, as elsewhere in the responsible corporate sector. Energy solutions play an important role in this. Although the panels cover only part of the entire house’s energy needs, every step towards zero emissions is valuable. The rest of the energy we need is purchased and that, too, is hydro-generated and renewable energy”, Jauhiainen points out.

Solar panels were placed on the roof to conform to the shape of the building’s wall lines in the north-south direction and the solar panel frames, racks and cable paths were chosen to suit the building’s look.

“When designing a solar power plant for a building at a parade site of Helsinki, safety features and total capacity must be taken into account, but also aesthetic requirements, so that the architectural harmony of the building does not suffer,” says Lintunen.

Solar power generation capacity will increase in the next few years

Solar energy will be a significant part of the renewable energy system in Finland. The total annual amount of radiation in southern Finland is about the same magnitude as in northern Germany. According to the Finnish Solar Energy Association, more than 10% of the electricity consumed in Finland and about a quarter of the heat energy is cost-effective to produce with solar energy’s current technology, but in the next few years, with the development of technology, perhaps a much larger proportion.

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