Vaasa Scoops Awards
Named Climate Municipality 2025, Vaasa’s work on energy and reducing emissions bears fruit: Vaasa also won the European Green Leaf 2026 competition and received 4ME funding through EU Innovative Actions.
The EnergyVaasa ecosystem is a pioneer in clean transition – something to be looked up to both in Finland and in Europe. The top expertise of the EnergyVaasa ecosystem includes smart grids, sustainable energy production, energy efficiency and energy storage, as well as maritime industry solutions.
The City of Vaasa is committed to becoming carbon neutral during the 2020s. Achieving this goal requires close cooperation with the industrial sector and the piloting and introduction of new technologies and solutions. The city has applied for and received support for this work from various opportunities offered by the EU.
In the spring, Vaasa succeeded in the call by EU’s Innovative Actions and received EUR 4.3 million for sustainable urban development. The project “Nordic Energy Capital – Creating system level urban energy transition” illustrates how electricity and heat can work together as an efficient entity. A digital twin of the energy system is created to help with design and development and in the simulation of new solutions.
An energy transition on the level of the entire system requires the participation of residents and the combination of accurate energy efficiency indicators.
‘The project studies energy efficiency together with residents through an interactive application. Through the information obtained from the data, we can change the way we think about, manage and consume energy,’ says the city’s Strategy Manager Suvi Aho.
In November 2024, Vaasa won the prestigious European Green Leaf 2026 competition, in which the European Commission annually awards a city that is implementing ambitious environmental and climate action. The competition was open to cities with a population of under 100,000. The jury praised Vaasa for its ambitious goal of becoming a carbon-neutral city by the end of the decade, and especially for the city’s energy education pathway from early childhood education to higher education.
According to the jury, Vaasa is also an excellent example of innovative technology solutions that support sustainable development.
‘The year 2026 will be a celebration of communality and environmental action,’ says Aho.
