The new heating solution for vehicle ramps saves a considerable amount of energy.

At Vuosaari Harbour, vehicles are driven quickly onto Finnlines vessels via two overlapping ramps. In winter, the ramps are heated to keep them unfrozen for safety reasons, which accounts for a significant proportion of the harbour’s energy consumption.

“Finnlines’ vessels use two double ramps, and their winter heating was identified as an area where energy consumption could be reduced. After running some calculations, we decided to go with heat pump technology. The resulting reduction in energy consumption is considerable, and the investment costs remained reasonable as well,” says Development Manager Jani Lindroos from the Port of Helsinki.

Before, the double ramps were heated by district heating, which consumed approximately 600 MWh per year on a five-year average. The heat pumps to be installed this autumn may reduce this by over 60%.

“We source the energy for both the heat pumps and district heating from carbon-free sources, so the change in heating solution will not affect our carbon emissions. Still, reducing energy consumption is a responsible thing to do, as it saves natural resources and reduces our costs,” Lindroos continues.

At the beginning of 2025, the Port of Helsinki Ltd achieved its carbon-related climate targets for its own operational activities. The Port has implemented a variety of measures to reduce its energy consumption, in addition to procuring all required energy from zero-carbon sources. The remaining emissions, i.e. 2.6% of the emissions in the reference year 2015, are compensated for with carbon offset credits. Work for the climate continues in earnest.