HELSINKI FINLAND Metro traffic on the Vuosaari branch in Helsinki will be suspended from 5 May to 28 September 2025 due to essential repairs on the Vuosaari metro bridge trains will not run to Rastila or Vuosaari stations The repairs require a full traffic shutdown as maintaining partial service would pose technical and quality risks HSL will provide replacement transport services throughout the closure Preparatory works have already been underway for several weeks Workers have been using high-pressure water jets to remove the surface concrete layer from bridge pillars to allow immediate access for full repair operations once the shutdown begins The repair project will address cracks found in the bridge's concrete structures and leaks in the deck slab waterproofing and drainage systems will be replaced The overhaul is expected to extend the bridge’s lifespan by several decades The main contractor for the bridge repairs is MPV-Infrarakenne Oy while Delete Finland Oy is handling the hydro-demolition work Further renovations are also planned at Vuosaari metro station repairing the heating system beneath the platform surface and replacing escalators and lighting systems Rakennuspartio Oy is managing the station works with electrical installations handled by L&T Oy City Transport Ltd confirmed that Itäkeskus area metro switches will also be replaced along with cable ducts and track power circuits These additional works may affect service frequencies between Siilitie HSL will release detailed information closer to the time and Helsinki Art Museum HAM will carry out conservation work on a trackside artwork The full metro closure is being kept as short as possible Although the bridge renovation itself will continue into next year normal metro service between Itäkeskus and Vuosaari is expected to resume after the summer Advertisement inquiries and other after-sales issues: info@helsinkitimes.fi Helsinki Times is the first and only English language newspaper providing news about Finland in English A weekly print edition of Helsinki Times was published from March 2007 up until Feb Helsinki Times is an online-only publication and other groups and individuals interested in Finland from all around the world © Helsinki Times All rights reserved.  Terms of Use | Privacy Policy Find upcoming events at the Events.hel.fi website Find municipal decisions in the Decision-making section serves a vast number of Helsinki residents does not fully meet the needs of the growing population of Vuosaari anymore the library will be better able to take the needs of local residents into consideration The customers of the library have had the chance to influence how the library will be renovated by completing a survey The wishes and needs of the public will be taken into account in the renovation will be better taken into account than in the previous library “We want to update the premises to better meet the needs of customers in our library in terms of comfort and services The purpose of making changes to the layout is to make the premises easier to use and add colour and comfort to the interior design of the space in accordance with our customers’ wishes,” said Vuosaari Library Chief Librarian Heli Kolehmainen The renovated library will be opened to the public with restricted services on 18 August Normal services will resume in the renewed premises on 1 September Architect Markku Puumala from Arkkitehtitoimisto Heikkinen-Komonen Oy who designed Vuosaari House together with architect Mikko Heikkinen is in charge of the planning of the renovation The upcoming renovation is the first comprehensive renovation to the building The pop-up space offers a limited selection of literature in various languages as well as newspapers and magazines The pop-up library is open from 9.00 to 19.00 from Monday to Thursday The library is open from 9.00 to 16.00 on Fridays The library is closed on Saturdays and Sundays There is accessible entry to the library via the lift The mobile library Skidi will be visiting the Vuosaari House yard on Mondays on 23 June  Skidi will be parked on the Cultural Space Merirasti square in Meri-Rastila between 10.00 and 14.00 on Wednesdays 25 June You can borrow and return books in the mobile library.  The first onshore power supply connection in Vuosaari Harbour The system is used by vessels operated by Finnish shipping company Finnlines — M/S Finnmaid Finnstar and Finnlady serving the route between Helsinki and Travemünde in Germany This content is available after accepting the cookies Vuosaaren sataman ensimmäinen maasähköjärjestelmä on otettu käyttöön @PortOfHelsinkihttps://t.co/KydivYpIuu The onshore power supply system was completed at Vuosaari Harbour in late 2023, and a similar system was completed at Travemünde Harbour at the beginning of 2024. At the same time, technology allowing the reception of onshore power was also built on Finnlines’ vessels. M/S Finnmaid was the first ship to introduce the new system. Under EU legislation, by 2030 nearly all passenger and container ships will be required to receive onshore power in maritime ports that receive at least 50 large passenger vessel port calls per year or at least 100 container ship port calls per year. ”We wanted to make great strides in these investments that are crucial to the environment,” Vesa Marttinen, VP of the cargo traffic business at Port of Helsinki, said. ”We built the first onshore power supply connections in ports in central Helsinki, where the reduction in air pollution will yield the most significant benefits due to housing near the ports. The first onshore power supply system in Katajanokka was completed in 2012, and we are now able to provide electricity generated on shore in Vuosaari as well,” Marttinen added. In practice, the onshore power supply system is tailored to suit each type of vessel. The system on quay C in Vuosaari includes a 4 MW transformer and two remote-controlled cable cranes. Electric Power Finland was responsible for the system design and electrical installations, whereas the foundations and cable installations were carried out by the port. Next, preparations for RoRo and LoLo transport onshore power supply projects designed to meet cargo transport needs will begin in Vuosaari Harbour. These onshore power supply systems are expected to be completed in 2026. The Port of Helsinki and the Port of Lübeck received support from the European Union for the construction of the onshore power supply system, which contributes to efficient mobility and transport of goods in Europe. The EU provides funding for projects focusing on environmental investments and the reduction of emissions. Onshore power supply refers to a system that produces shore-based electricity for a vessel in a port. This way, the vessel does not need to keep its auxiliary engines running to generate electricity. The use of onshore power can reduce the ship’s climate emissions in the harbour area to a significant degree, by up to 50–80%. Daily news and in-depth stories in your inbox The Pioneers of Offshore Engineering GustoMSC, part of NOV’s Marine and Construction business, is recognized for providing advanced design & engineering consultancy for mobile offshore units and reliable equipment. In close cooperation with our customers, we translate experience, science, and technical knowledge into realistic & innovative ideas. The performance of new and existing jack-ups, vessels […] Kivinen Rusanen Architects has delivered the new Vuosaari Bioenergy Heating Plant in eastern Helsinki, a key addition to the Vuosaari power plant site, which has supplied much of the city’s energy since the 1980s. The project forms part of Finnish energy supplier Helen Ltd’s ambitious plan to achieve carbon neutrality within the next decade. Producing around a quarter of Helsinki’s district heat, the plant reduces carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 700,000 tonnes annually. The facility’s 260 MW output is achieved through an energy-efficient combustion process with a 122 per cent efficiency rating. While it does not currently generate electricity, provisions for future conversion to combined heat and power production have been integrated into the design. The building’s planning spanned over the course of ten years, involving extensive studies into technological options and site scaling. Though based in central Helsinki, Kivinen Rusanen Architects is well-versed with the Vuosaari site, where the practice has designed every building since the 1980s. The plant’s architecture is defined by two main components: a tall, linear boiler building and an interconnected biofuel handling system. The boiler building houses the core equipment — including the combustion boiler and advanced heat recovery systems — with its staggered massing reflecting the varying heights of internal machinery. Adjacent buildings handle fuel reception, screening, and storage, all linked by a network of conveyors. A key aspect of the scheme’s brief was to provide a compact layout, allowing future expansion while maintaining logistical efficiency. The tightly arranged structures include slender steel trusses supporting the fuel conveyors, minimising their footprint and maximizing operational flexibility. Positioned near existing facilities, the plant balances functionality with spatial constraints, leaving room for future developments. Vuosaari’s industrial presence in the harbour landscape demanded careful consideration of visual impact. Views from a nearby public park, surrounding residential areas, and the sea influenced the design. At street level, Satamakaari Street benefits from enhanced landscaping along a steep embankment, softening the industrial aesthetic while improving the pedestrian experience. A double façade system, coupled with a neutral colour palette unifies the external appearance while concealing technical equipment and also mitigating glare and thermal radiation. Perforated aluminium composite panels clad the boiler building, combining lightweight practicality with structural and fire code compliance. Extensive glazing enhances natural light in operational spaces, increasing safety and comfort for maintenance staff while softening the plant’s otherwise robust aesthetic. Meanwhile, corrugated steel sheeting adorns the fuel-handling buildings, offering flexibility for the complex array of smaller structures. © Built Environment and Architecture Media Ltd 2025 We use cookies and other tracking technologies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website, analyse your use of our products and services, assist with our promotional and marketing efforts, and provide content from third parties. These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site may not work then. These cookies allow the provision of enhance functionality and personalisation, such as videos, live chats and your preferred language. 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Open image viewerThe defendant and her attorney at Helsinki District Court on 8 October 2024 Image: Heikki Saukkomaa / LehtikuvaYle News8.10.2024 14:11•Updated 8.10.2024 14:19Helsinki District Court on Tuesday began hearing the case of a 40-year-old woman accused of murdering her eight-month-old baby in a private residence in the capital's Vuosaari area this past June The prosecution is requesting a mental health assessment for the defendant the woman did not provide her child with enough food or drink and also shook the baby The prosecutor also claims that the woman's neglect led to the baby suffering a slow and painful death The woman denies the charges and claims she did not inflict any violence on her infant The defence argues that the mother suffered from postpartum depression and anxiety Rescue workers found the baby dead in the apartment where it lived with the mother The prosecution noted the woman had failed to take her baby to its eight-month checkup though she did turn up for the six-month visit when the baby's health was recorded as good with the mother both nursing and feeding the child solid foods The baby's father is seeking damages for suffering including psychiatric problems and insomnia The man lived with the mother and baby after the child's birth Important findings emerged from the survey: more than half of young people said they had experienced or witnessed discrimination or racism in Vuosaari These results are in line with the latest THL school health survey which reveals that a significant proportion of young people have had unpleasant encounters with adults in their free time These unpleasant experiences include encounters with intoxicated adults or experiences of inappropriate or racist treatment While many young people have experienced or perceived racism the THL school health survey also revealed that the majority of children and young people feel that they have friends and that skin colour religion or ethnic origin is not a significant factor in their friendships according to respondents to the District Vision survey more than 70% of young people in Vuosaari considered Vuosaari a good place to live and go to school young people discussed in small groups the results of the surveys and their own experiences of safety and comfort the small groups wrote down observations on which the group agreed The discussions took place in the Vuotalo library and in the premises of the Helsinki Finnish Adult Education Centre -One of the main goals of our libraries is to defend democracy freedom of expression and sustainable development and it is therefore important that young people also have the opportunity to discuss and influence how best to implement regional democracy a safe neighbourhood and services suitable for young people both in the library and in the Vuosaari area The Vuosaari Library and Vuotalo want to provide a safe place for young people in Vuosaari to meet and produce together with young people cultural and educational services that are relevant to them Young people stressed the importance of nature for their well-being Being in nature is calming and also promotes well-being They also agreed that adults have a responsibility to create safety by helping and addressing insecurities while at dusk it can feel unsafe to walk around Young people also shared experiences that insecurity is not necessarily always about themselves They also stressed that working together can do a lot of good and reduce feelings of insecurity Ella Hegg and Josefiina Lehtonen shared their impressions of the workshops What were the high school students' impressions of the day's workshop -I'm learning about things that I haven't experienced myself everyone spoke from their own point of view and everyone had their views heard safety and comfort are important to young people I better understood the interface between primary and upper secondary school and how different experiences young people have at different school levels When asked what the future of Vuosaari looks like the young people could describe it in one word: SUPERGREAT -Focus on identity and attachment to the community and society around them is important to maintain and strengthen children's and young people's confidence in the future and participation in the debate provided one way for young people to influence the future of their local environment young people are active actors rather than passive recipients," says Pertti Tossavainen principal of the Puistokoulu Primary School.   Vuosaari has grown strongly in recent years and was voted District of the Year in 2017 and the Vuosaari District Vision has given residents the opportunity to reflect on the future of their area The results of the city vision will be compiled into a report that can serve both as a tool for influence and as a source of new insights -Vuosaari is a truly dynamic district and home to 40 000 people one thing has become abundantly clear: the residents want to influence what Vuosaari will look Archive Architecture Open image viewerThe mother lived with the child in Vuosaari File photo of the suspect during a hearing at Helsinki District Court Image: LehtikuvaYle News25.9.2024 15:31The prosecutor's office in Helsinki on Wednesday filed criminal charges against a 40-year-old woman who is suspected of murdering her eight-month-old child in the early summer Police suspect the child died from malnutrition and dehydration between May and June 2024 The mother lived with the child in Vuosaari The suspect called emergency services on 12 June Responding officers found the infant dead when they arrived Police completed a preliminary investigation into the case earlier this month special prosecutor Yrjö Reenilä said that there was no further information to share about the case As authorities continued to investigate the suspected murder in mid-June, police said such cases were "exceptionally rare" “Roadworks will take place along the route for the rest of the autumn The improvements of the spare route will be completed in their entirety in spring 2025 after which the functionality of the detour will be tested with real traffic before the tunnel renovation begins,” says Head of Unit Jukka Värri from Fintraffic There are five construction sites on the alternative route in total and work starts at all of them at the same time The largest works are the construction of additional lanes at the Itäväylä and Kallvikintie junction and the Niinisaarentie and Kallvikintie roundabout. These lanes will improve the flow of traffic traffic volumes are expected to increase. In addition the Niinisaarentie and Porslahdentie roundabouts as well as the Niinisaarentie and Satamakaari intersection will see improvements to better meet special transport requirements.  Concurrently traffic controls on the route will be clarified and its safety improved by installing attention posts at pedestrian crossings Most of the road and street work takes place outside traffic areas but the works will cause some disruption to traffic A new lane for pedestrians and cyclists will be built next to the current one at the Itäväylä junction – pedestrians and cyclists should note that the current pedestrian and cycling lane north of Itäväylä will be closed on both sides of the Kallvikintie junction over a distance of approximately 500 metres. The detour through Mellunmäentie and the pedestrian and cycling route that diverges from the road The detour is approximately one kilometre and is expected to be in use until mid-November.  Before the Vuosaari road tunnel renovation in 2025–2026 improvement works will be carried out on the alternative route of the tunnel on the section Itäväylä–Kallvikintie–Niinisaarentie–Vuosaari Harbour construction work in the tunnel will begin in spring/summer 2025 which will lead the tunnel to be closed for approximately one year port and other traffic will primarily be directed to use the tunnel’s alternative route the spare route is used during tunnel maintenance and it is also used by special transports the technical systems of the tunnel leading to the Vuosaari Harbour in Helsinki which have reached the end of their service life the tunnel structures will be repaired and the drainage and fire-extinguishing water systems under the tunnel will be replaced The extensive demolition and construction work requires the closure of the tunnel as strict safety regulations do not allow for traffic in the tunnel when safety systems are out of service The Vuosaari road tunnel runs from the Ring Road III interchange on Itäväylä to Vuosaari harbour The tunnel is about 1.5 kilometres long with two lanes in each direction Vehicles travelling in different directions drive in their own tunnel tubes around 7,650 cars and 2,700 heavy goods vehicles pass through the tunnel every day The tunnel opened in 2008 and more than half of its traffic is port traffic Fintraffic is responsible for the Vuosaari road tunnel's renovation project and for carrying out commissioning improvement work on the alternative route. The City of Helsinki and the Uusimaa ELY Centre will be responsible for planning improvements to the alternative route. The improvement of the alternative route will be implemented by Ylöjärven Kiviset Oy - One of our most important goals has been to find a way to implement the renovation which will cause as little disruption to traffic as possible extensive demolition and construction work requires the closure of the tunnel we will work with contractors to find ways in which the construction project itself and its various work phases will progress as efficiently as possible," explains Fintraffic Service Director Riku Suursalmi Market dialogues on the tunnel renovation will take place in May and June and the actual tendering process will be published at the end of the year the improvement of the tunnel's alternative route will be put out to tender during the summer the primary connection to the port will be the tunnel's current alternative route Itäväylä–Kallvikintie–Niinisaarentie–Vuosaari harbour and the route will be improved at several points before the tunnel's renovation begins The functioning of the alternative route will also be tested with real traffic before the repair work on the tunnel begins The improvement work will begin at the end of 2024 The efficient flow of traffic along the alternative route and its safety will be improved especially at junctions and pedestrian crossings so that the route will remain functional even as traffic volumes increase The most significant measures will be the construction of additional lanes at the Itäväylä and Kallvikintie junction and the Niinisarentie and Kallvikintie roundabout Improvements will also be made at the Niinisaarentie and Porslahdentie junction and the Niinisaarentie and Satamakaari junction so that they will better serve special transports During the general planning of the project a number of options for phasing the work were examined and some of the things the comparison of the implementation options took extensively into account include safety and accident risks during construction in the tunnel and on the alternative route the total duration and costs of the project All alternatives included long-term closures of the tunnel The chosen implementation method allows efficient Traffic arrangements will also remain unchanged throughout the project Fintraffic is responsible for the Vuosaari road tunnel's repair project and for carrying out commissioning improvement work on the alternative route The City of Helsinki and the Uusimaa ELY Centre will be responsible for planning improvements to the alternative route close dialogue has been held with the Port of Helsinki and other key actors in the area The dissemination of information on the future renovation of the tunnel to residents companies and other actors in the area started already in autumn 2023 so that different parties can take the impacts of the project into account as early as possible The traffic management and safety systems in the road tunnel leading to the Port of Vuosaari in Helsinki are coming to the end of their life cycle and are to be renewed During the renewal of the Vuosaari road tunnel's technical systems renovation work linked with the life cycle of the tunnel's technology and structures will be carried out which will include the renewal of the tunnel's fire alarm Other work will include the repair of tunnel structures and the renewal of the drying and sprinkler water systems running beneath the tunnel a modern problem detection system capable of learning and variable energy-efficient LED illumination will be introduced as well as tunnel fans for improved air quality and smoke removal the Vuosaari road tunnel runs from the Ring Road III interchange on Itäväylä to Vuosaari harbour More than half of the traffic in the tunnel is harbour traffic The tunnel is about 1.5 kilometres long with two separate two-lane tubes running in opposite directions The Vuosaari tunnel's control systems were created at the beginning of the 2000s when the tunnel was built in a way that does not allow for two-way traffic in a single tunnel tube General information on tunnel safety: long road tunnels must also comply with safety regulations during repair work if there is traffic in the tunnel The tunnel must have a functioning camera surveillance system for detecting fires and accidents from the traffic centre and rescue vehicles must always be able to access the tunnel The connecting corridors between tunnel tubes must also be kept accessible as escape route it must be possible to blow the smoke out of the tunnel and extinguishing water must be available.   Tokmanni     Press release     1 March 2024 at 1:30 p.m Tokmanni will close its store in the Columbus shopping centre in Vuosaari in Helsinki due to the expiration of the lease agreement Tokmanni is currently looking for new store premises to replace the soon-to-be-closed store which has served its customers in the Columbus shopping centre since 2017 They can continue working in other Tokmanni stores in the Helsinki metropolitan area The Tokmanni Group’s network of stores will continue to grow and renew Tokmanni acquired the business at the beginning of this year The operations of Villen Kauppa will be merged into the Tokmanni store in the business centre in early 2024 About UsThe TeamOur ValuesAdvisory Panel Our Clients What is a Smart City? Terms and ConditionsCookie PolicyRegistrationLogin © 2025 SmartCitiesWorldSmart Cities World Ltd "+ articleTitle +" The autonomous self-check station allows clients to measure their blood pressure an electrocardiogram (ECG) can be taken to measure the heart’s activity The client receives a printout of the measurement results containing no personal information The measurement only takes about ten minutes “Innovations like the MedicubeX e-Health Station are welcome in health stations I believe in the readiness of our clients to start using new technologies like this Introducing the autonomous health-check station also contributes to the efficiency of our services,” says Timo Lukkarinen Medical Director of Health Stations in Helsinki The pilot will be used to test new ways to improve the efficiency of services and to offer remote consultations and preventive care The autonomous self-check station can be found at the Vuosaari Health and Well-being Centre’s health services lobby on the 2nd floor The self-check station is easy to use and will guide its users in taking different measurements Instructions for using the self-check station are also available next to the device our staff will gladly assist in using the self-check station The pilot will run for a year and be jointly implemented by the City of Helsinki and the Helsinki-based start-up MedicubeX The pilot is part of the City of Helsinki’s development and testing platform activities which aim to develop future well-being services together with partners Helsinki offers a trial platform for testing The piloting of the self-check station in a real user environment at the Vuosaari Health and Well-being Centre is a continuation of its product development in the Health Incubator Helsinki incubator programme “We are delighted that Helsinki has taken the opportunity to test the device we have developed we can offer clients a new way to monitor and manage their health The Medicube X e-Health Station is the world’s first fully autonomous device generating measurement results that healthcare professionals can use to assess their client’s health and the risk of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases An even more advanced version of the autonomous self-check station will be released in autumn 2023,” says the CEO of MedicubeX You can watch the video after accepting targeting cookies To use the chat, you need to accept functional cookies Heat production in the Vuosaari bioenergy heating plant has started on schedule in the heating period 2022–2023 The plant has produced heat from biomass into the district heating network since 9 December The bioenergy heating plant replaces a significant amount of the district heat production volume of the Hanasaari power plant which will be decommissioned on 1 April 2023 and it will also balance the price variations of thermal energy As a result of the decommissioning of the Hanasaari plant the total emissions of the City of Helsinki will fall by about 20 per cent In addition to the bioenergy heating plant heat production from Hanasaari will also be replaced with other production such as with various heat pumps and electric boilers utilising waste and environmental heat The district heat output of the bioenergy heating plant is in excess of 260 megawatts and the district heat energy it produces corresponds to about a quarter of Helen’s district heat production The plant will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 700 tonnes per year The Vuosaari bioenergy heating plant is an important part of the distributed and sustainable energy system and it contributes to Helen’s diverse energy mix “The Vuosaari bioenergy heating plant is one of our largest projects and an important step on our journey towards carbon neutrality The district heat we have produced in the 2020s is largely based on energy produced with various heat pumps we will increase the share of non-combustion production methods in heat production The significance of steering by data will also grow in the future distribution and consumption of heat more efficiently with the aid of artificial intelligence and the smart grid,” says Timo Aaltonen The design of the Vuosaari bioenergy heating plant is based on high availability energy efficiency and the plant’s adaptability to various future needs but it can be modified into a combined district heat and power production plant by investing in a separate turbine plant the modern plant will also enable utilisation of various fuels hydrogen production and Power-to-X technologies (P2X) in the plant Energy efficiency has been maximised to the full in the new bioenergy heating plant The plant’s rated thermal input is 220 MW and its district heat output is more than 260 MW which means that its efficiency is about 120 per cent The boiler temperature is about 700–900 degrees but the temperature of flue gas coming out of the 80-metres high chimney stack is about 11 degrees at best “The heat recovery of flue gases after the boiler can be maximised and almost all of the water vapour contained in them is condensed with the aid of a separate heat recovery plant and the absorption heat pumps connected to it Condensing of the water vapour of flue gases taking place at the heat recovery plant enables about 120 per cent efficiency no waste water is produced and even the condensate produced in the heat recovery plant is utilised The selected solutions make the Vuosaari bioenergy heating plant the most energy-efficient plant in Finland Water vapour constitutes less than one per cent of the flue gas mass leaving the stack,” sums up Project Manager Antti Saikkonen Helen published its biodiversity strategy earlier this year Helen’s vision is to aim for net positivity in the long term the nature impacts of our operations will be smaller than in the current situation In addition to hydropower production and energy infrastructure projects the key development areas of our strategy includes the procurement of bioenergy We aim for sustainability in 100 per cent of our procured biomass this means that the wood fuels we procure come from certified suppliers (e.g We also require that the production of our fuel suppliers takes into account sustainable forestry and biodiversity The Vuosaari bioenergy heating plant has been designed so that it is capable of using various biomass fractions in as diverse a way as possible The main fuels are various forest chips and by-products of the forest industry We recognise the significance of deadwood to biodiversity in production forests and we know the key principles of maintaining and producing deadwood Energy wood is not grown separately in Finnish forests and therefore fractions used for energy are by-products of logging Wood chips are produced from the by-products of logging such as from branches and small-diameter thinning wood By-products of the forest industry include Procurement is carried out mainly in Finland and it is supplemented with imports Helen will build a green hydrogen production plant in Vuosaari This is Helen’s first hydrogen project with which the company will increase its expertise to meet the needs of large-scale hydrogen production and enhance the flexibility to the entire energy system This is also the first green hydrogen production plant to be built in Helsinki The capacity of 3H2 – Helsinki Hydrogen Hub pilot plant project – will be approximately three MW The produced hydrogen will primarily be used through a hydrogen filling station to be built in connection with the plant which is mainly intended for heavy transport It is also possible to deliver hydrogen to customers in containers The plant will be located in the vicinity of Helsinki’s district heating network and the busy Vuosaari Harbour The waste heat generated in the production process will be utilised in Helen’s district heating network which means that the overall energy efficiency of the plant is over 90% “The 3H2 project is the first of its kind in the world combining four different sectors: electricity heating and hydrogen as well as flexibility between them Hydrogen is an essential part of Helen’s new strategy and we are committed to investing in the development of the hydrogen business We are excited to start building Helsinki’s first green hydrogen production plant,” says Sari Mannonen hydrogen will be produced with renewable electricity which means that the production is emission-free Traditional hydrogen produced with fossil fuels causes significant carbon dioxide emissions Reduction of emissions makes green hydrogen an attractive alternative especially for heavy transport but also for other sectors in which electrification is challenging This is the world’s first hydrogen project which is designed to be an integral part of the optimisation of society’s overall energy system in the electricity transport and hydrogen markets as well as to serve as the solution for the flexibility of the energy system waste heat generated in hydrogen production will be used in the district heating network in Helsinki which means that the project is much more energy efficient than any project so far The aim of the project is to pilot the green hydrogen production and optimise production in terms of the demand for hydrogen renewable electricity production and electricity market we will use green hydrogen production to make sure that the new hydrogen technologies are functional One important goal is also to maximise energy efficiency and increase flexibility in the energy system Helen has announced that it is planning to launch large-scale hydrogen production in the Vuosaari power plant area after the construction of this pilot plant We have also commenced preliminary studies on the development of an industrial hydrogen valley in Uusimaa in collaboration with Neste Corporation We have set a target of making our energy production carbon neutral by 2030 we plan to phase out combustion-based energy production by 2040 Our electricity production already consists mainly of wind we are constantly increasing the use of sustainable bioenergy electric boilers and heat pumps utilising waste and environmental heat hydrogen will be an integral part of the sustainable energy system Learn about Helen’s hydrogen business Helen's first hydrogen plant is designed by Sweco Helen and the other leading energy companies in Finland join forces to develop an industrial hydrogen valley Visy Oy was selected as the gate technology provider for the Port of Helsinki, Vuosaari Harbour project – a massive undertaking which involved moving and combining two commercial port areas from the center of Helsinki to a new, single, location east of the city. The Vuosaari Harbour project was a Greenfield, the nature of which was the first of its kind in an EU capital. After years of planning, building, and testing, the Vuosaari Harbour Center went live on 24 November 2008. Overnight, and in the midst of a staggering snowstorm, the new port went from 0 to 4,000 gate transactions per day. The Helsinki Port Authority, each of the three terminal operators (Finnsteve, Steveco, and Multi-Link Terminals) and Finnish Customs Agency use Visy technology specifically designed for their unique operations. The Port Authority uses Visy Port Access Control System (PACS), the terminals use different versions of Visy’s Terminal Gate Operating System (GOS), and Finnish Customs uses Visy Alarm Gate for border traffic control management. Visy technology manages all vehicular traffic for the entire Vuosaari Harbour area and provides access control for pedestr ians and people. The interoperable Visy systems manage a massive volume and wide variety of traffic serving a three-pronged purpose: Reduce operating expenses, optimise safety and security, and increase throughput capacity at the gates. The Visy network at the port is comprised of the PACS for the Port Authority and three separate GOS’s, one for each terminal operator, and a Customs Agency GOS. All of the systems in the network function together to ensure that cargo moves quickly and efficiently. The Finnish Customs Agency has an extraordinary set of requirements at the port. Firstly, Customs requires the ability to clear cargo before it leaves the port area. This process is done through the Visy PACS Net web software, which is also used by the Port Authority and all of the operators to book appointments at the gate. Secondly, Finnish Customs uses Visy Alarm Gate (a completely separate system) to collect license plate and container code data for their risk analysis procedures. Thirdly, the Customs Agency has rail-side X-ray portals which use Visy optical character recognition (OCR) for container code identification. The access and area control needs of the entire port area are diverse and completely managed in the Visy network. with house prices in the southwest rising by 2.5 percent year-on-year Open image viewerProperty prices were down by over 6 percent in the capital Image: Vesa Marttinen / YleYle News28.5.2024 11:08Property prices dropped by an average of 4 percent in Finland during the month of April compared to the same month last year according to preliminary data released on Tuesday by Statistics Finland The data also revealed that apartment prices were down by an average of 5 percent across the country Vantaa saw the largest fall in property prices as they were down by 9.1 percent year-on-year There were also sharp drops in Oulu (7.7 percent) and Helsinki (6.4 percent) Turku was the only big city to buck the national trend with house prices in the southwest rising by 2.5 percent year-on-year during April and by 4.7 percent from the previous month The city has also experienced a slight pick-up in trading volumes with 170 property transactions carried out through real estate agents in Turku during the month of April The number of older apartments and terraced houses sold through real estate agents nationwide was up by 17 percent compared to April last year Statistics Finland's data also revealed Users with an Yle ID can leave comments on our news stories. You can create your Yle ID via this link. Our guidelines on commenting and moderation are explained here Welcome to portstrategy.com. This site uses cookies. Read our policy webinars and articles on innovations and current trends in the ports and terminals industry Alternatively REGISTER for website access and sign up for email alerts Steveco Vuosaari in Helsinki and Steveco Mussalo in Kotka have become the world’s first ports to go live with Navis N4 in a cloud environment Want to read more before deciding on a subscription It only takes a minute to sign up for a free account and you’ll get to enjoy: Get more free content sign up today Ready to subscribe? Choose from one of our subscription packages for unlimited access Site powered by Webvision Cloud but clothes and bicycles may sit dockside for monthsA transport workers' strike has left thousands of shipping containers waiting for delivery to Finland either on ships at sea or dockside in other European ports Open image viewerThe Port of Helsinki's Vuosaari harbour has been quiet since the strike began Photo of shipping containers at Vuosaari in August 2023 Image: Petteri Bülow / YleYle News14.3.2024 11:16That barbecue grill bicycle or summer frock you ordered in your excitement at the approaching spring is most likely sitting in a freight container at some European port waiting for the current wave of strikes in Finland to end on 25 March the Port of Helsinki's Vuosaari harbour is seeing only about half its usual number of self-contained freight shipments — such as shipping containers — arriving by ship the port's Director of Freight Transport is operating at only about 10 percent of normal volume during the strike The strike will affect around 20,000 shipping containers and 10,000 lorry trailers at Helsinki's harbours alone could be delayed by the strike by a few weeks to a few months," he says About 1.4 million shipping containers pass through Finland every year Managing Director of the Finnish Port Operators Association the strike will affect tens of thousands of containers in Finland as a whole freight containers headed for Finland from abroad are either remaining in their country of dispatch waiting in European ports such as Rotterdam or Hamburg or are aboard ships in Finnish waters waiting for ports to receive their cargo according to Marttinen since the strike that started Monday is still at such an early stage there may be some ships off the coast waiting for the strike to end Shipping companies are now trying to reroute their cargo vessels some of the cargo destined for Finland has been unloaded at the port of Muuga in Tallinn Only goods critical for national security of supply are now being received for unloading by Finnish ports some non-urgent cargoes have been accepted because some stevedores have come to work despite the strike," Mutru says Mutru points out that the strike will bring additional costs for individual ships ranging from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of euros depending on factors such as the type of freight they are carrying and the daily costs of transport "If cargo is unloaded in the meantime say in Muuga [near Tallinn] and picked up there for reshipment to Finland the extra stopover can be very expensive," Mutru explains Many foodstuffs are also transported by shipping container Marttinen says he is not yet worried about tons of food spoiling because of the strike as the containers are temperature-controlled Mutru believes that some food will spoil during the strike the loss is usually covered by the sender or the buyer "When these containers arrive in Finland the Finnish Food Safety Authority will assess whether or not the products are still marketable," says Marttinen The strike is not expected to cause widespread shortages of food products but there may be shortages of some individual products Operators at Vuosaari harbour were able to forward a large number of containers before the strike started so there is currently not a significant backlog at the port facility Marttinen expects the port to fill up quickly The biggest challenge will then be to get the containers out of the port "Moving just one cargo ship's load out requires hundreds of trucks," he explains being able to prioritise unloading according to the urgency of the products in containers is a challenge Foodstuffs will move quickly as soon as the strike ends say a bicycle on order for the spring may be stuck someplace like Rotterdam for quite a long time YIT and Caverion Finland Ltd have signed a contract with the City of Helsinki on the construction of the Vuosaari Upper Secondary School using the life-cycle model The total value of the contract is approximately EUR 32 million of which YIT’s share is approximately EUR 19 million The project will be entered into the order backlog for the second quarter of this year The new premises are set to be in use by the summer 2021.  YIT is responsible for the design and construction of the school Caverion is responsible for the comprehensive delivery and design of the new construction’s technical building systems The building will be finished by the summer 2021 Caverion will be responsible for the property’s maintenance and target energy use for 20 years This is the City of Helsinki’s first life-cycle project The upper secondary school premises will be designed to meet the demands of the new national curriculum will also function as a multi-purpose building in the evenings and weekends the City of Helsinki will build a new upper secondary school We want to build a high-quality building suitable for the needs of 900 students in the center of Vuosaari which opens in the evenings for a wide range of recreational and residential use The life-cycle model gives the city better opportunity for quality risk management” Project Manager at the urban environment development unit of the City of Helsinki YIT and Caverion Finland Ltd have completed numerous life-cycle model projects together including the Kirsti and Viherlaakso schools in Espoo Torkinmäki school in Kokkola and Nummikeskus in Hämeenlinna “We have a lot of experience with life-cycle projects and Vuosaari Upper Secondary School is a good continuum to our life-cycle business We at YIT will continue focusing on the development of our life-cycle projects in the future,” says Hannu Soikkeli Head of Lifecycle Project Development at YIT.  “The life-cycle model is well-suited for implementing sustainable projects such as schools The importance of smooth cooperation is highlighted when the goal is to create pleasant conditions for the users and achieve a high energy efficiency that also meets the client’s environmental objectives,” says Ville Tamminen Head of Division Finland at Caverion.  The life-cycle model ensures that the completed premises are safe and healthy Thanks to systematic maintenance and maximised energy efficiency the property’s carbon footprint can be kept as low as possible.  Business premises and Partnership Properties segments About us | Advertise with us | Contact us Posted: 28 May 2008 | | No comments yet A new harbour is presently being built in Finland’s capital and will be ready by the end of 2008 approximately 15km from the centre of Helsinki (see Figure 1) The Vuosaari Harbour project includes the construction of a cargo harbour as well as traffic channels – a new fairway Figure 1: Location of the Vuosaari Harbour and main cargo routes The harbour railway line will be 19km long and have two tunnels the Savio tunnel will be the longest railway tunnel in Finland and the second longest in the Nordic countries The Vuosaari Harbour is being built on the site of an old shipyard including 90 hectares that required filling A business park covering 75 hectares is also being built next to the harbour The harbour will have 3.6km of quays and 20 berths It will only handle unitised cargo packed in containers The harbour will provide jobs for approximately 4,000 people and will have good public transport links in which environmental matters have been carefully taken into consideration in planning and implementation the harbour will be completed to the extent that cargo traffic can be moved to Vuosaari from Helsinki’s existing harbours Traffic channels will be ready at this time along with a large part of the business park The harbour will reach its full extent by the end of 2009 Figure 3: Organisation of the harbour project The Vuosaari Harbour has been planned so that it will have a maximum throughput of 12,000,000 tonnes a year approximately 2,400,000 tonnes (20%) will be transported by rail this will be broken down into 1,800,000 tonnes arriving at the harbour and 600,000 tonnes leaving the harbour by rail The harbour project has been divided according to implementing organisations and financing arrangements as follows: Figure 4: Costs of the Vuosaari harbour project This is the first time the Finnish Road Administration the Finnish Rail Administration and the Finnish Maritime Administration have worked together to such an extensive degree in the same project The VUOSA and VUOLI projects have been carefully coordinated Joint functions include the handling of soil and rock site traffic arrangements and the monitoring of environmental impacts The harbour project will have a total cost of approximately €680 million environmental considerations have played a key role and new traffic channels have been located in tunnels or in existing corridors for the most part New road and railway connections will link the harbour to major roads and the main railway line (see Figure 5) Figure 5: Map and profile of traffic connections also showing shatts and access tunnels for the Savio railway tunnel with a draught of 11 metres and a length of 36km was planned so as to be as safe and easily navigable as possible Dredging was required over a distance of 2km and dredged soil and rock was mostly used to fill in the harbour area The new harbour road (Satamatie) leading to Ring Road III goes under Porvarinlahti Bay and the Labbacka Natura 2000 area in a 1.6km tunnel with double lanes in separate tubes that are well illuminated The road was opened to traffic in December 2007 The new 19km railway line will improve rail connections for cargo traffic It will provide a fast and safe link to the main line between Helsinki and Tampere and inland terminals along the way The railway line will be completed and go into service in November 2008 The harbour and new traffic channels run through areas that have considerable importance for nature conservation and recreation and extensive environmental impact assessments were conducted in planning the project and as part of the permit and notification procedure In planning and approving the Vuosaari Harbour and traffic channels for it attention has constantly been paid to environmental impacts as well as financial and technical matters and this has essentially influenced planning solutions In building the harbour road and railway line the moving of soil and rock has been coordinated with the construction of the harbour fairway and logistics area to provide the optimal solution in terms of overall economy The harbour road and railway line follow the same corridor between tunnels and their construction has been carried out together This also saved space and made it easier to plan noise abatement and landscaping Construction of the Porvarinlahti railway bridge and the portal of the Labbacka tunnel took place outside the breeding season for birds The construction of harbour traffic channels produced approximately 300,000 cubic metres of soil and approximately 1,900,000 cubic metres of rock This has been used as fill in the harbour area and in structural layers noise barriers and landscaping for traffic channels The harbour railway line will be 19km long and have a single track that is electrified (1*25 kV) blocked and equipped with automatic train protection The line will only be used for freight traffic This is expected to increase to a maximum of 16-20 trains a day The line will have a maximum speed of 80km/h The track will consist of 60E1 rails on concrete sleepers and ballast Trains can have a maximum length of 725 metres and a maximum weight of 4,500 tonnes the volume of traffic will be 5-6 trains a day in each direction plus 3-4 additional trains a week and even more at peak periods trains will generally arrive during the night and morning and depart during the evening The harbour railway line will split off from the main line in the Savio section of Kerava Here it will enter the 13.5km Savio railway tunnel and run as much as 60 metres below the surface in some places before resurfacing next to Ring Road III the line will follow the same corridor as Ring Road III and the harbour road for approximately 2km and then run under the Labbacka Natura 2000 area in a second tunnel appromximately 0.7km long Then it will cross the Porvarinlahti railway bridge in designing which special emphasis has been placed on noise abatement and water protection which will have eight tracks where shunting operations can occur Only electric locomotives and rolling stock approved for rail traffic in Finland will be used on the line Tank wagons will not be allowed; instead hazardous substances will be transported in tank containers or unit good containers which will take care of shunting work in the yard will occasionally travel through the tunnel between the harbour and the main line Diesel equipment will also be used in line maintenance work Traffic on the line will be remote controlled from the traffic management centre for southern Finland The traffic control and safety equipment system together with automatic train protection will prevent the possibility of a collision between trains going in opposite directions or of a rear-end collision Communication between traffic control and trains will take place over the GSM-R network The Savio railway tunnel will be 13.5km long with a single track and have short concrete portal structures at both ends Figure 8 on page 35 shows a cross-section of the tunnel The tunnel will have a maximum gradient of 1:100 and a minimum curvature radius of 1,000 metres The lowest point in the tunnel will be 23 metres below sea level and the tunnel will run as much as 60 metres below the surface The southern portal of the tunnel is five metres above sea level and the northern portal 33 metres above sea level There are four access tunnels and four shafts leading to the tunnel The access tunnels will serve as maintenance routes and in an emergency as exits Access tunnels and shafts will be separated from the railway tunnel with sectioning walls and doors rock and groundwater investigations were conducted in order to determine the best places for tunnelling areas were also surveyed to determine the types of foundation used in buildings and places where there was a chance that settling might damage municipal engineering risk areas were mapped and strict requirements were set for permissible leakage (min During construction the rock mass around the tunnel was grouted in risk areas to prevent negative impacts on groundwater or vegetation located overhead Figure 8: Basic cross section of the Savio tunnel The environmental impacts of tunnel construction were closely monitored noise and vibration measurements and groundwater measurements were conducted in nearby areas All measurement information was collected in a single database For monitoring purposes an online service was created and through this all the results of measurements could be checked practically in real time The construction of the Savio tunnel was carried out by a number of contractors Excavation was divided into five contracts so that work could be done according to the fairly tight timetable Excavation contracts included the excavation and reinforcement of the tunnel as well as shafts and access tunnels and facilities for technical systems Excavation work began in September 2003 and was completed in autumn 2006 Subsequently separate contracts have covered the installation of structures and technical systems electrified line technology and CCS-equipment The tunnel was built entirely using the drill and blast method The quality of the bedrock was mostly fair to good although a few weak fracture zones were encountered along the way galvanised bolts and shotcrete were used in reinforcement the bedrock was of very poor quality and there were numerous thick clay zones For this reason excavation over a distance of approximately 300 metres was carried out in stages and the roof of the tunnel was shored up with preinstalled bolts The bedrock in this area was so weak that the tunnel could not be built using traditional reinforcing methods and still meet requirements for the service life of load-bearing structures a concrete tunnel with a structural thickness of 800mm was built over a distance of 230 metres (see Figure 9) The structure is under pressure from the layers of soil overhead and approximately 50m water pressure Figure 9: Cross-section of the concrete tunnel section of the Savio tunnel Since the difference in elevation between the portals of the tunnel was large gravitational ventilation results in a chimney effect with air naturally flowing from the lower portal towards the upper end of the tunnel In winter this causes cold air to reach deep in the tunnel and particularly near the portals this can lead to the formation of ice on the roof and walls of the tunnel the decision was made to install heat and water insulation structures at both ends of the tunnel The selected insulation solution was ÖS-Lining with polythene sheets being attached to the walls of the tunnel and fire protected with a 100mm layer of wire mesh reinforced shotcrete Lining structure was installed over a distance of 300 metres at the northern portal and 600 metres at the southern portal The southern portal of the tunnel is equipped with an automatic door that keeps gravitational air flow and cold from reaching far into the tunnel but when a train approaches the tunnel from the south or the southern portal of the tunnel from the north The door is connected to the line’s CCS-system and whether the door is open can be checked before a train approaches the portal The door is equipped with primary and pre-signals Tunnel structures have been dimensioned for the air pressure variations caused by rail traffic and for the fire and explosion pressure loads in accident situations The pressure load on structures will vary between ± 5 KPa The large pressure variation is due to the fact that when a train enters the northern portal of the tunnel the door at the southern portal will still be closed Thus the pressure shock caused by a train cannot be immediately released but will form a sizeable load impulse on the tunnel’s structures and equipment Since the tunnel goes under residential areas the possibility of disturbance travelling through rock and soil has also been studied The source of disturbance is vibration due to friction between train wheels and rails which is carried by track substructures to the bedrock In bedrock vibration is rapidly dampened but it can be a problem in neighbouring areas particularly at higher frequencies where it is audible The result is referred to as structure-borne noise which in some circumstances can be heard at a distance of over 100 metres from the tunnel if a building has its foundation on bedrock Sub-ballast mats have been installed in the Savio tunnel over a distance of approximately 8km so the risk of disturbance due to structure-borne noise has been minimised The Savio railway tunnel can be entered through four access tunnels and four vertical shafts Tunnel safety will be ensured with precautionary measures and an efficient fire extinguishing system The risk of an accident is small since only one train will be in the tunnel at a time The tunnel will be monitored with cameras and have communication links The safety and operating systems have been designed to ensure the safety and working conditions of train crews as well as maintenance and rescue personnel maintenance routes and vertical shafts at intervals of 1.5-2 kilometres can be used as exits A hot-box detector will be installed on the line between Helsinki and Tampere so that a freight train with a defective axle or brake can be stopped before it enters the tunnel This arrangement complies with SRT TSI recommendations aimed at reducing risks in railway tunnels There will not be a hot-box detector between the harbour and the tunnel since trains will be inspected in the yard before departure Tunnel structures and technical systems are based on a risk analysis that was conducted during the planning stage there are no significant risk points in the tunnel attention has been paid to the possibility of a fire and problems that might be encountered in extinguishing a fire or removing smoke Clean water will be piped from drains to pumping plants located at access tunnels and will then be pumped to drainage ditches near the portal of each access tunnel Pumping plants will have separate collection and back-up pools for water coming from different directions The pools have been dimensioned so that they can handle water flowing in an emergency situation The pumping plants will be equipped with oil separation systems and hazardous substance detectors and back-up pools can be emptied into a tank truck at the lower level of an access tunnel in an emergency The railway tunnel will be illuminated around vertical shafts and access tunnels and at both ends with fluorescent lights over a distance of 200-400 metres there will be supplementary lighting for video cameras lighting will only be used near the portals of the tunnel or in accident or maintenance situations Signage and safety lighting that meets SRT TSI requirements will lead to exits in accident situations The electrical feed for the tunnel’s operating system has been connected to the 20 kV network from two directions so a defect in one direction will not cause a long outage The 20 kV wire has been installed into the track substructure and fire protected Transformers and main distribution boards have been located in connection with access tunnels and vertical shafts and at turning points in the longest tunnel segments Power current distribution boards for maintenance and rescue activities have been located at the portals and at intervals of approximately 100 metres in the tunnel The tunnel has been equipped with a leaking antenna cable system that allows links between the official GSM network (VIRVE) and the GSM-R network Emergency phones will be located at turning points and at intervals of 350 metres in the tunnel and in technical facilities Picking up a phone will automatically connect it to the tunnel control centre which will be able to locate the phone from which a connection originates If an emergency phone is disconnected from the cable network this will send an alarm to the control centre The tunnel will have a field phone network for the rescue department Ventilation will take place via the portals of the tunnel when a train pushes a column of air before it Smoke exhaust fans have been located at the portals of the tunnel and at vertical shafts Smoke exhaust systems have been dimensioned assuming that the air flow is 2 m/s and that air changes at least three times an hour in a tunnel segment the tunnel will have smoke curtains that will allow the tunnel to be sectioned Smoke curtains will be closed manually and locked to the track structure Ventilation during repair and maintenance work will be carried out with smoke exhaust fans or auxiliary fans The tunnel will have an emergency earthing system to protect rescue and maintenance activities The system will ensure that electricity is turned off if rescue department personnel have to enter the tunnel during an emergency Grounding separators will be located in connecting structures and the operating panel will be on the side of the connecting structure The panel will have a display that shows whether electricity has been turned off The Savio railway tunnel will be equipped with a fire hydrant network and the fire water network will be a dry network Fire water stations will be located at the portals of the tunnel and at the top of vertical shafts for pressurising and filling the network Fire hydrants will be located in the tunnel at intervals of approximately 100 metres Portable fire extinguishers will be installed at pumping plants An optical-cable fire alarm system will be installed in the tunnel.Technical facilities will be equipped with heat and smoke detectors Emergency phones and fire alarm buttons will be installed at intervals of 300-400 metres at turning points for rescue vehicles and in technical facilities The tunnel will also have a crime report system vertical shafts and main entrances to access routes will be equipped with motion detectors The status of the system and alarms will be displayed in the control room The system will automatically control video cameras and recording functions The portals of the tunnel and the entrances to access tunnels and vertical shafts will be equipped with recording video cameras The doors leading to access tunnels and vertical shafts will be equipped with access control automation so that rescue personnel will know which door has been used when leaving from the tunnel For the control and monitoring of the tunnel’s operating systems and alarms the tunnel will have a property control system All the information in the system will be directed to the technical control room and if necessary to the traffic management centre’s control system plumbing and ventilation monitoring system will be installed to control operating systems and for smoke removal All systems will have data links to the technical system control point located in connection with the operating centre for the electrified line and if necessary according to a separate plan to the company in charge of property maintenance and the rail traffic management centre Figure 10: Conceptual view of the door at the southern portal of the tunnel Issue 3 2008 Tunnelling Finnish Rail Administration (RHK), VR-Track Ltd Finland No comments yet All subscriptions include online membership giving you access to the journal and exclusive content By Alan Worsley, Lee Bateson By Elizabeth Jordan - Global Railway Review Comment * document.getElementById("comment").setAttribute( "id" "a7bd3b53b4587de1158432df6ac91496" );document.getElementById("j0f0bb4fb4").setAttribute( "id" Write for us | Advertise with us Global Railway Review is published by: Russell Publishing Ltd.Court LodgeHogtrough HillBrasted © Russell Publishing Limited Website development by e-Motive Media Limited JUser: :_load: Unable to load user with ID: 60 A sheltered beach spreads out on each side The sand extruding from between the toes wears away any calluses from the heels Ahead lie the Emerald Isles and the waves of the Mediterranean Recently Vuosaari was the sovereign winner of Helsingin Sanomat’s Most Beautiful Neighbourhood poll A number of the responses echoed elements of far-off countries “The view of the sea is reminiscent of Greece “In the summer I am reminded of Southern European beach destinations.” Vuosaari in the summer is incredibly perfect during the day Is this what the human figures in architects’ conceptual drawings feel like The culture of this former colony of Vantaa is centred upon the sea A soul worn out by the roar of the waves is a placid one Its inhabitants take a splash in the Baltic Sea nearly every day “The best part is that the sea is on located on every side here,” says Petri Tikkakoski “It is the only place where a regular family with children can live so close to the sea,” Mia Tikkakoski continues and even a bike ride from there to Aurinkolahti beach takes only minutes The beaches of Iso Kallahti and Rastila can also be visited if so desired The sand is slowly scorching the pale Scandinavian skin The illusion of Southern Europe only disappears only due to the lack of junk merchants and soda peddlers chasing down customers A Kainuu-native is also comfortable being away from the bustle of the city Antti Hänninen and Eve-Maria Moilanen from Kajaani have lived in Vuosaari for two years The only thing missing is the tram,” Hänninen jokes The small red coffee house adorned with red kitsch is an institution: its salmon soup is the most common answer to the question of where to find the best beach food and 12 euros yields a pancake and coffee for dessert The disposable cup has been stuffed with so much Norwegian salmon that not a single fin could budge inside A lone piece of potato is looking for a friend The salmon feels extremely tender and melts in the mouth With this much crème and salt it is impossible to fail and you are guaranteed to get a big piece of it The price of the soup includes the surroundings as the eating experience is accompanied by an atmosphere of garden gnomes iron scorpions and bears carved by chainsaws The most important things for Vuosaari inhabitants are sea If swimming gets tedious and moving around the near islands is tempting Vuosaari Paddling Center is run by Natura Viva in Ramsinranta Uutela Recreation Area provides two cooking sheds for packed lunches Those who seek their own space can hike to Mustavuori and Vuosaarenhuippu Those who seek to spot boats should walk to the northeast edge of the harbour and climb the Horisontti lookout at the end of the huge sound barrier to watch the iron giants slowly moving away towards far-off countries Tapio Pellinen – HSAnnika Rautakoura – HT© HELSINGIN SANOMATImage: Rio Gandara / HS  © Helsinki Times All rights reserved.  Terms of Use | Privacy Policy Officials say that ice has thinned quickly in recent days Open image viewerSkaters with safety gear near Helsinki's Vuosaari district on 11 March Image: Jaakko Stenroos / AOPYle News29.3.2024 18:19The ice in Finland's sea areas has weakened considerably recently The Coast Guard has rescued several people who have fallen through the ice in the past few days good weather for outdoor activities and mild temperatures are a dangerous combination from the Coast Guard’s point of view search and rescue coordinator of the Gulf of Finland Coast Guard Ryönänkoski said on Friday afternoon that more than half a dozen people had been rescued from the ice in the past two days "I’d say that more people have fallen through the ice now than at the same time in many previous years," he said an ice fisherman fell through the ice late Friday morning A bystander called emergency services and saved the angler by using a coat as a rope substitute Another man fell through the ice in Taivassalo He managed to get back onto the ice and crawl to shore the Western Finland Coast Guard said on Friday afternoon a dog sank through the ice near Kimitoön on Friday afternoon A person went to save the dog on a surfboard but Coast Guard lifeguards had to help them to the shore "There are many migratory birds on the ice now it may run after birds on the ice," said Ryönänkoski Ryönänkoski pointed out that the ice situation has changed very quickly Venturing onto the ice is not recommended in any sea areas "In places where ice was still load-bearing yesterday The Coast Guard warned of hazardous conditions in a social media post on Thursday afternoon saying that "the ice has weakened rapidly along the entire southern coast several people who have sunk in the ice have been rescued Helen will build a heat pump in connection with the Vuosaari power plant utilising the power plant’s own cooling water circulation and the heat of sea water as heat sources A heat pump of this scale utilising the heat of the sea water is unique in Finland Helen aims to reduce emissions from energy production and increase the amount of renewable energy The company has recently invested especially in heat pumps and heat accumulators and the new heat pump to be built in Vuosaari pursues the same objectives What is novel in the Vuosaari solution is the utilisation of the heat of sea water – this has not been tested in Helsinki or The heat pump will utilise thermal energy absorbed in sea water during the summer and the excess heat from the internal cooling water circulation in the Vuosaari power plants ”The heat pump is an excellent solution to increase the efficiency of the Vuosaari power plants’ own production process we will be able to recycle the excess heat of the cooling waters in the production process and utilise it in the district heating network By utilising the heat of sea water we can extend the annual operating time of the heat pump and that way improve the profitability of the investment,” says Helen’s Project Manager Karoliina Muukkonen The smart energy system and the district heating and cooling networks in Helsinki make it possible to combine new technologies and production methods in a flexible way heat pumps are seen as an important part of the future energy system: they are a natural way to utilise new heat sources in district heat production The Katri Vala and the Esplanade heating and cooling plants have already been built in Helsinki It is possible to produce the majority of the required district heat in the summer by recycling waste and excess heat The Katri Vala heating and cooling plant is currently being extended with a new and the Vuosaari heat pump will increase Helen’s recycled heat production even further More about the possibilities of using sea water heat pumps in Helsinki in the blog The heat pump is large on the Finnish scale corresponding to the size of the pumps in Helen’s Esplanade heating and cooling plant To use the chat, you need to accept functional cookies. Helen’s Hanasaari power plant will be closed by the end of 2024. Heat production will be replaced with heat recycling with heat pumps, energy storage, and a bioenergy heating plant planned for Vuosaari. Picture of a bioenergy heating plant planned for Vuosaari Helen has made preparations to phase out the use of coal and to close the Hanasaari power plant for several years. A completely new heating and cooling plant has been built under the Esplanade Park, and the Katri Vala heating and cooling plant located in Sörnäinen is currently being extended. Furthermore, a cavern heat storage facility, which is unique even on the global scale, is currently built in old oil caverns. “Helen has the means to replace coal. We continue to invest in large-scale recycling of energy with heat pumps, and we also have projects for the storage of heat. Over a slightly longer time scale, we are investigating several emission-free technologies, such as geothermal heat, utilisation of seawater-source heat, and small modular reactors,” says Helen’s President and CEO Pekka Manninen. The coal act approved by Parliament will determine the time schedule and, at the same time, the available solutions. Helen has investigated the possibilities of building bioenergy heating plants in different parts of Helsinki. Helen’s Board of Directors made a decision to plan for the Vuosaari bioenergy heating plant with an objective to enable an investment decision on a new plant in spring 2020. This and the previous investment decisions on heat pumps and energy storage will make it possible to close the Hanasaari power plant. “The bioenergy heating plant designed for Vuosaari represents a medium-sized bioenergy heating plant on the Finnish scale, meeting about a quarter of the coal use of the closing Hanasaari power plant. The envisaged plant would account for about 15% of Helen’s fuel consumption,” says Project Manager Antti Saikkonen. The plant would be located next to Helen’s existing power plant site in Vuosaari. The planning objective of the plant is to have it ready for production use in autumn 2023. The present decisions are estimated to have no impacts on the price of district heat. Open image viewerImage: Google9.12.2016 10:06•Updated 9.12.2016 15:21Helsinki Police report a fire that took the lives of four people in a sixth-floor apartment on the street of Vuotie in Helsinki’s Vuosaari district early Friday morning. “The worst fire damage was in the sauna. Police are investigating the cause of the blaze,” said the head of the investigation, Detective Chief Inspector Anne Hietala in a release that promises more information in the afternoon. The fire was first noticed by a neighbour in the housing block some time after 2:30 am. Rescue Services were informed at 2:47 and the first unit of many was on the scene eleven minutes later at 2:58. Kimmo Tuominen, the fire chief on duty, told the media that the Fire and Rescue Services extinguished the fire quickly. “The fire was confined to the room in which it started,” he said, shortly after 6 am. He said the victims of the fire were quickly removed from the flat, but despite rapid resuscitation attempts, they were unable to save anyone. He also said that the fire had not spread to any other flats in the building. but plenty of medicine and bananasAlthough a passenger traffic ban has hit the Port of Helsinki's business cargo services are running at near-normal volume Open image viewerVuosaari Harbour in eastern Helsinki employs around 2,000 people Moving shipping containers requires on-site workers but many other jobs are being handled remotely Image: Vesa Marttinen / YleYle News8.4.2020 13:24There is a relatively steady stream of lorries flowing in and out of the Vuosaari Harbour facility in the east of Helsinki "There has been a slight decline because of those strikes and the coronavirus as well is having some kind of impact," Kallio told Yle Open image viewerAccording to Jukka Kallio there are a few more containers at the Vuosaari Harbour than usual Image: Joni Tammela / YleKallio says that a slight surplus of shipping containers at the Vuosaari facility is because of a slowdown in exports When the coronavirus epidemic started affecting China in January international maritime shipping companies saw a lack of containers in traffic between China and European ports "Now there are quite a few because they are not moving to the Far East in quite the same way as normally have our factories working at capacity and goods are being produced," he explains Open image viewerEmpty shipping containers stacked at Vuosaari Harbour Image: Vesa Marttinen / YleWhen production is at normal levels Kallio and his colleagues are keeping a close watch on the situation through reporting from the Finnish Port Association and the European Sea Ports Organisation "Even though many sites in Europe are at a standstill generally goods are still moving and this is vital for us There are signs now that China is beginning to recover from this situation and goods are indeed heading there," explains Jukka Kallio The view from observation deck atop the 13-storey Gatehouse office building shows the size of Vuosaari Harbour Open image viewerSome 12,000-13,000 freight lorries arrive and leave Vuosaari Harbour every week It is served by five trains trains a day and around ten cargo ships Image: Vesa Marttinen / YleThe Port of Helsinki is Finland's largest point of entry for imports its facilities handled a total of 14.4 million tons of imports and exports Around 60 percent of exports consist of products of the wood processing sector Some 12,000-13,000 freight lorries arrive and leave Vuosaari Harbour every week It is served by five trains a day and around ten cargo ships the port handles some 5,000 shipping containers of bananas every year This provides hope that despite of the coronavirus epidemic "We all need supermarket imports," Kallio points out Travel restrictions and the closure of the nation's borders have all but brought passenger traffic in and out of Finland by sea to a standstill Ferries have continued arriving at Vuosaari from Travemünde Kallio says that on Friday there were only 20 passengers on board the vessel Open image viewerFinnlines' passenger-car ferry was still in traffic between Helsinki and Germany his week the Finnish government issued a recommendation to shipping companies in Sweden Estonia and Germany with routes serving Finland to end sales of passenger tickets by Saturday 11 April This is a major blow to the Port of Helsinki which depends on passenger services for about half of its revenues Passenger ferries between Finland and Estonia being made up of freight including foodstuffs and so Finland's National Emergency Supply Agency is providing shipping lines with financial support Open image viewerInterest in drones is spreading in Finland Image: AOPYle News18.5.2019 11:30Finland will see soon the country's first drone-delivered lunches to homes and offices the largest regional co-operative of one of the country’s duopoly grocery retailers has entered into an agreement with the drone delivery firm Wing to start a six-month pilot will test Wing delivery of its lunchtime products with the unmanned vehicles starting in early June The test area will be limited to Vuosaari in eastern Helsinki Customers will be able to order lunchtime products from the Herkku store located in the Itis shopping centre HOK-Elanto said in a press release that the products will be dispatched to customers in just a few minutes Late last year the drone delivery company revealed plans to enter the Finnish market when Wing CEO James Burgess made the announcement at Slush Helsinki's startup and investor conference In 2015, Finland's postal service Posti trialed deliveries of packages using the autonomous flying devices Wing's CEO said the company chose Finland as its entry point into the European market in part because of existing interest in drones Kimmo Mäki overlooks the Port of Helsinki’s iconic South Harbour from his Managing Director’s office in the historic Olympia Terminal building The Tallink Silja Line’s Helsinki-Stockholm ferries moor just outside the building as towering reminders of the port’s importance to the Helsinki economy a 50-metre-tall observation wheel will soon go up reminding Mäki of the many forces and interests at play in the economic development of Helsinki “We make growth possible in the Helsinki region,” he points out presenting impressive facts and figures of the port’s economic impact one-third of all Finnish exports and imports pass through the port 40 percent of the exports and imports transported by sea Close to 11 million people pass through every year – twice the Finnish population The port-related economy represents 5 percent of the region’s economy and 7 percent of Helsinki’s total workforce The port’s indicators are a sensitive measure of the overall state of the global economy as freight volumes fluctuate with demand for Finnish exports as far as in the United States and the Far East and the port continues to serve as an important agent that enables further growth in the region,” Mäki says “My mission is to ensure the port the means to develop.” With these words he underscores his role in securing one of the economic cornerstones of Helsinki Most of the port’s passenger traffic on the regular Helsinki-Tallinn route and all passenger traffic on the Helsinki-St Petersburg route today a total of 5.5 million passengers in a year The number is expected to grow to 6.5 million in 10 years The pace of activity at the West Harbour is breathtaking The terminal is operating at full capacity A tram line extended to the terminal a few months ago offers some relief to the high numbers of passengers on their way to and from the terminal but cars and trucks carried by the ferries form long lines on the exit road construction yards are in full swing right next to the terminal site building the new Jätkäsaari residential district on land that used to belong to the port’s container harbour “Our largest ongoing task is to develop the West Harbour operations to accommodate the growing volumes,” Mäki says The port has plans for a second terminal to be completed in 2016-2017 added parking and upgrades to the sea channels The harbour development project is a joint effort by the port and the Helsinki City Planning Department “We collaborate closely to integrate the port operations and the rest of the Jätkäsaari district into a functional whole.” The Port of Helsinki took a major leap toward a sustainable future when freight operations were focused in a new and modern port in Vuosaari Today only the freight carried by trucks on the Helsinki-Tallinn and Helsinki-Stockholm ferries passes through the city centre The Vuosaari harbour meets the region’s and some national export and import needs far into the future “Vuosaari could easily handle a bigger share of the national flows including some from northern Finland,” Mäki suggests envisioning an even larger role for the harbour The City of Helsinki has made many efforts to rebuild sections of this cherished but contested heart of Helsinki – with museums including Guggenheim Helsinki The City recently sought new concepts for the area with a city planning competition The exact identity of the South Harbour area remains to be defined but all plans keep the harbour securely in place “The role of the harbour here is understood very well,” Mäki says confirming that the area’s port operations proceed in harmony with their neighbours Value of freight passing through the port 5% of the Helsinki region’s gross domestic product Money left in Helsinki by passengers passing through the port: €348 million A powerful marker of summer in Helsinki is international cruise ships The city hosts hundreds of them over the summer season which carried a total of 368,000 passengers several ships moor at the South and West Harbours allowing their passengers to explore the city The cruise business even features large in Helsinki’s city plans and the development of the West Harbour area Port of Helsinki Managing Director Kimmo Mäki puts the cruise business in perspective He points out that the international passengers carried by all ships to Helsinki left almost 350 million euro in the city last year Less than 30 million of the sum came from cruise passengers “The cruise business is a fine addition to Helsinki’s economy but the real impact comes from our regular passenger traffic,” Mäki affirms the ferries of the Tallink Silja and Viking Lines are approaching the South Harbour on their last leg of the overnight journey from Stockholm and 10 departures and arrivals on the Helsinki-Tallinn route proceed according to their winter-time daily routine << contents Helsinki Info index Amanda Kotaja Sveitsissä kisoissa kesäkuussa 2019 Vuosaarelaisella ratakelaaja Amanda Kotajalla on hieno viikko takanaan: ensin 24-vuotias urheilija valittiin kesän 2020 paralympialaisiin ja seuraavaksi hän osallistui nuoresta iästään huolimatta jo kolmatta kertaa Linnan juhliin – Linnan juhliin pääseminen on ollut hieno kunnia meillä on valtavan hieno ja turvallinen kotimaa olla ja toteuttaa itseään Kolminkertainen T54-luokan maailmanmestari on oiva osoitus terveestä itseluottamuksesta tahdonvoimasta ja periksiantamattomuudesta Synnynnäisen selkäydinvamman vuoksi pyörätuolilla liikkuva Kotaja on lapsesta saakka ollut liikunnallinen Vampulassa varttunut tyttö urheili pyörätuolissa muiden lasten mukana esimerkiksi liikuntatunneilla Ensimmäiset leikkimieliset kisansa hän yleisurheili 7-vuotiaana tavoitteellinen pyörätuolikelauksen harjoitteleminen alkoi 13-vuotiaana Satakuntalaista Vampulan Urheilijoita yhä edustava Kotaja muutti vuonna 2011 Helsingin Lauttasaareen päästessään Mäkelänrinteen urheilulukioon josta puolestaan lakkiaisvuonna 2015 Vuosaaren Aurinkolahden Kahvikortteliin Nykyistä asuinpaikkaa ei ole tarvinnut harmitella Ja täältä pääsee nopeasti metrolla tai autolla esimerkiksi keskustaan tai Espooseen Lisäksi Aurinkolahti on rauhallista seutua ratakelaajahuippu Toni Piispasen naapurustossa asuva Kotaja kertoo Yhteistyökumppaneiden tuella Kotaja pystyy urheilemaan täyspäiväisesti joten almanakassa on 4–5 kovan tehon harjoitusta viikossa Niiden lisäksi Kotaja tekee päivittäin liikkuvuusharjoitteita ja kehonhuoltoa fysioterapiaa ja uintia kuuluu viikko-ohjelmaan Amanda Kotaja harrastaa kesäisin melomista – Vuosaaren Urheilutalon kuntosalilla ja Heteniityntien urheilukentällä teen aika ajoin omatoimitreeniä jota harrastan Ramsinrannan Natura Vivasta saaristoon lähtien Melontaretket ja luonnossa liikkuminen ovat minulle enemmänkin henkisiä rentoutumiskeinoja kuin fyysistä harjoittelua marraskuussa 100 metrin ratakelauksen MM-kultaa Dohassa ylivoimaisesti voittanut Kotaja miettii Vuosaaren esteettömyyteen Kotaja on tyytyväinen sillä hän pääsee liikkumaan pyörätuolilla jopa luontopoluilla mikä on maalaistytöksi itseään kutsuvalle huippu-urheilijalle tärkeä asia Esimerkiksi Kauppakeskus Columbuksessa ja Aurinkolahden rantabulevardilla pääsee liikkumaan pyörätuolilla huoletta Kotaja Ratina heinäkuussa Tampereen Ratinan stadionilla heinäkuussa 2019 Heinäkuussa 2019 rullaustyyliin tuli suuri muutos kun hän alkoi harjoitella toisen suomalaisen paraurheiluhuipun Leo-Pekka Tähden tekemillä kelauskapuloilla Niistä löytyi apua edelliskauden käsivaivoihin – ”Lepen” tekemät kapulat meinasivat alkuun lentää monet kerrat seinään sillä hanskoista kapuloihin vaihtaminen ei ole yksinkertainen juttu Vaadittiin tekniikan harjoittelua pitkään pienillä tehoilla mutta viimein pari viikkoa ennen Dohan MM-kisoja tekniikka loksahti kohdilleen Juuri lähdöt ovat olleet vuosaarelaisen ratakelaajan suurimpia vahvuuksia lajissa jossa vaaditaan yläkropalta paljon voimaa ja räjähtävyyttä – Olen aika voimakas mutta kevytrakenteinen Eniten kehitettävää löytyy vauhdin säilyttämisessä koko matkan ajan kertoo Tokion paralympialaisissa 100 ja 400 metrille osallistuva Kotaja Vuosaarelainen paraurheilutähti sanoo suoraan että hänen tavoitteenaan on voittaa satasen kultaa Tokiosta Unelman eteen on kuitenkin tehtävä joka päivä töitä sillä ratakelauksen huipulle on tunkua muun muassa Kiinasta missä laji kehittyy tällä hetkellä huimaa tahtia Yksi hienoimmista urheiluhetkistä Kotajan uralla liittyy sekin paralympialaisiin – Sijoituin ensimmäisenä arvokisakesäni 2012 Lontoon paralympialaisissa 100 metrillä neljänneksi Rion paralympialaiset 2016 olivat Kotajalle puolestaan pettymys varsinkaan 100 metrin kuudes sija ei miellyttänyt kovin odotuksin kisoihin matkannutta naista ollenkaan Rion jälkeisissä haastatteluissa ratakelaaja sanoi että sairastelusta johtunut valmistelukauden rikkonaisuus vaikeutti kisaamista ettei pystynyt nollaamaan jännitystä ja paineita tarpeeksi hyvin tuolloin Kotaja onkin puhunut Rion pettymyksen jälkeen henkisen valmennuksen tärkeydestä huippu-urheilussa Hän valmistuu tämän vuoden lopussa liikuntaneuvojaksi noista opinnoista on varmasti ollut hyötyä myös urheilun henkisen puolen kehittämisessä Huippu-urheilijan urasta haaveileville nuorille Kotaja haluaa korostaa sitä että jokainen löytäisi oman tapansa liikkua ja urheilla kaikki liikuntalajit kun auttavat ja tukevat jollain tapaa toisiaan Positiiviset kokemukset liikunnasta ovat auttaneet minutkin saavuttamaan unelmiani urheilussa positiivisen elämänkatsomuksen omaava Amanda Kotaja kannustaa Shipper Eckerö Line announced on Monday that they are adding a second ferry to their Tallinn-Helsinki operations starting in June This means up to 2 kilometers of vehicles added to Tallinn city center traffic at least twice a day mainly affecting Põhja Boulevard and Ahtri Street in the port area Although they can't yet announce the ship's name and its exact departure times The route will add additional capacities to the shipper's route from Tallinn's A-Terminal to Helsinki's Vuosaari Vantaa Airport and a local IKEA furniture and home accessories store are easy to reach The harbor in Vuosaari is a convenient alternative to the ferry ports located more centrally in the Finnish capital as travelers will be able to avoid city traffic The situation looks very different in Tallinn where the new ferry's point of departure is smack-dab in the middle of the city While the planned added capacity both for the transport of private vehicles as well as for trucks is good for the port's business the added number of vehicles has the potential to seriously strain the city's traffic management Deputy mayor: New development necessitating finishing Reidi Road as soon as possible Considering the new ship's capacity of 366 passengers plus cars as well as space for heaver vehicles every arrival and departure will likely add some 2 kilometers of traffic to Tallinn's Põhja Boulevard and Ahtri Street According to Deputy Mayor Andrei Novikov (Centre) the city has no direct legal means of influencing the developments in the port area concerning shipping companies the city and port operator AS Tallinna Sadam/Port of Tallinn are in touch and discussing the matter Eckerö's announcement of the new ferry had caught the city council by surprise The new development makes it all the more important to finish Reidi Road a new and more capacious roadway to take transit traffic in and out of the city center 0)" class="article-poll-disclaimer" ng-bind="totalVotes + ' hääletajat'"> {{option.votes}} {{selectedLanguage.poll.votes}}/ Iga kasutaja võib hääletada {{poll.optionLimit}} vastusevariandi poolt