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The world is moving toward becoming carbon-neutral. While the EU has set a target of reaching that goal by 2050, the Finnish capital has set an even more ambitious target of getting there by 2030. A crucial part of the transition is Helen, the energy company powering Helsinki and Finland’s second largest utility company. In the past few years, Helen has taken major steps away from coal to renewable energy sources and electrified heating. To manage the increasing complexity of a modern, sustainable energy system, Helen turned to AI and data-driven solutions.
From shoveling coal to being fueled by data
One of the most impactful uses of Databricks at Helen has been optimizing their district heating system, which serves approximately 90% of Helsinki’s population. Traditionally, energy production was centralized, with a few large coal plants providing both heat and electricity. However, as Helen moves toward renewable energy, the system has become far more complex, relying on distributed energy resources like heat pumps, waste energy recovery, electric boilers and industrial by-products.
“The new energy system is an AI- and data-driven system,” Mikko Muurinen, Head of Data and AI at Helen, said. To manage this complexity, Helen has developed a centralized data and AI platform using Databricks. The platform powers a range of forecasting and optimization models, which play a critical role in steering energy production. These models process streaming data from hundreds of sensors and IoT devices, making real-time adjustments to maximize efficiency and minimize waste.
Where and when do Helsinki inhabitants need their energy?
At the heart of Helen’s operational transformation is the ability to forecast energy demand and production in real time. Using Databricks’ powerful data pipelines, Helen can analyze vast amounts of data from their energy network, predicting when and where energy will be needed. This allows the company to reduce overproduction, cut costs and significantly lower emissions.
“Our Databricks Platform enables us to do various improvements ranging from predicting the optimal placement of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations to optimizing the energy system flexibility with virtual and physical energy storages,” Mikko explained. These optimization models help Helen balance energy loads across the city and ensure that renewable energy sources are used as efficiently as possible. Even small improvements in energy efficiency can translate into substantial cost savings and reduced carbon emissions, contributing to Helsinki’s ambitious climate goals.
“We regard it essential that people living in Helsinki and using our district heating products can see the benefits of our efforts and increasing efficiency of our operations in their energy bills as lowering prices, reflecting also the progress of the dramatic cleaning process of our production fleet,” Mikko said.
Moving toward a more automated energy system
Helen’s use of Databricks is not just about operational efficiency — it’s about building a sustainable energy system that will serve the city for decades to come. By integrating AI-driven optimization into their core operations, Helen is creating a system where human operators no longer need to make manual decisions. Instead, AI models will automatically adjust the energy supply based on real-time data, with human workers overseeing the system.
“We’re moving toward more automated systems where people will supervise rather than decide,” Mikko said. This shift not only increases operational efficiency but also ensures that Helen can meet the increasing demand for renewable energy without overburdening their workforce.
Helen has already decommissioned one coal plant and is on track to shut down their second by the spring of 2025. This shift will reduce the company’s carbon footprint by over 80%, a massive step toward achieving carbon neutrality. This massive change requires world-class capabilities in real-time data, analytics and AI, so the impact of Databricks on Helen’s operations is significant. “By squeezing even a small percentage out of our processes, we generate real business impact,” Mikko concluded.