The Finnish Climate Fund has decided on a EUR 5 million investment into the Cactos Fleet Finland infrastructure fund to speed up the deployment of smart energy storage systems. The fund’s investments are targeted at energy storage systems that help companies electrify their operations, support infrastructure for clean energy systems and boost the growth of small-scale production of renewable electricity.
A functioning, balanced and carbon-free energy system is key to the security of the energy supply and green transition in Finland. As the electrification of society continues, energy production will be on the brink of a major transformation during the coming decades in terms of both volume and structure of production.
“Cactos Fleet Finland was founded in response to the massive investments required in infrastructure, especially in demand-side flexibility and support for the electricity grid, in the transition to renewable energy production. We primarily invest in energy storage systems installed in buildings. In addition to their grid-level duties, these systems can, for example, cut a building’s peak power and provide back-up power. The energy storage systems are financed by the infrastructure fund and are provided to the end client as a service,” Oskari Jaakkola, founder and CEO of Cactos, explains.
Local energy storage systems can be used to optimise usage of the building’s own energy production, offering an additional incentive to use locally produced renewable energy.
“The green transition requires electrification of society across all sectors. As the demand for electricity grows and the production of highly weather-dependent renewable energy increases in Finland, local infrastructure that supports green energy production will be crucial to the success of the energy system of tomorrow. What’s interesting about the Cactos fund is the energy storage systems that are provided to customers as a service and which, consequently, can be deployed very quickly,” Toni Mikkonen, Acting CEO of the Finnish Climate Fund, says about the funding decision.
In addition to the Finnish Climate Fund, the Cactos fund has another anchor investor, OP Infra Suomi. The objective of the Cactos fund is to accumulate a principal of EUR 70 million, with half being debt and half capital. The investment period of the infrastructure fund will continue for approximately two years, and the entire capital will be invested in smart energy storage systems in Finland. The Cactos Fleet Finland infrastructure fund will have a term of 10 years.
Cactos’s press release.
The Cactos Fleet Finland infrastructure fund:
Founded in 2021, Cactos Oy is a Finnish company that makes smart energy storage systems. The energy storage systems are assembled using either new iron phosphate cells or recycled Tesla accumulators. The energy storage systems allow for efficiency and security of supply in the use of renewable energy, which benefits both local energy producers and the entire electricity grid.
Cactos Fleet Finland is an infrastructure fund that, through its investments, owns smart energy storage systems developed by Cactos Oy. To date, the largest single smart energy storage system owned by the fund is one of approximately 2.5 MWh installed in the Tuusula distribution centre of Logitri Oy. In 2023, the fund’s energy storage systems supported the main grid for more than 5000 hours.
The stored clean energy can be discharged during peak price hours, when it typically replaces fossil energy production. The benefits of the smart energy storage systems manufactured by Cactos Oy include a cloud service that controls the energy storage remotely. With the cloud service, an energy storage system can be automatically charged and discharged during optimal hours based on different data sources, such as weather forecasts and local consumption.
Cactos Fleet Finland Ky is a ‘light green’ fund, as defined in Article 8 of the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation of the EU, which means that its investments promote environmental characteristics. The solution reduces emissions directly by replacing fossil energy with energy stored during green production. However, it is not meaningful to compare the direct emission reductions, as the intended effect is created, in particular, by the significant indirect role of energy storage systems as decarbonisation enablers in an electrifying society. Energy storage systems support stable and disruption-free operation of the distribution grid and boost growth of locally produced renewable energy in Finland.
The EUR 5 million investment in the fund by the Finnish Climate Fund will be used to accelerate the deployment of energy storage systems in Finland, supporting the electrification of society and the development of infrastructure that is crucial to the energy system of tomorrow.
More information:
Saara Mattero, Director, Communications and Sustainability, Climate Fund, tel. +358 400 114 777, saara.mattero@ilmastorahasto.fi
Oskari Jaakkola, Founder and CEO, Cactos Oy, tel. +358 41 4626 520, oskari@cactos.fi
The Finnish Climate Fund is a Finnish state-owned special-assignment company. Its operations focus on combating climate change, boosting low-carbon industry and promoting digitalisation. The Climate Fund invests in large-scale projects in which the fund’s investment is crucial to enable the project’s realisation in the first place, on a larger scale or earlier than it would with funding from elsewhere.
Cactos Oy makes smart energy storage systems. Energy storage systems secure the critical supply of electricity locally and make it possible for renewable energy to be used efficiently all over the world. With the Cactos energy storage system cloud service, energy can be stored or discharged to the grid based on consumption and prices. Founded in 2021, Cactos Oy makes its energy storage systems in Muhos, and its storage systems are used all over Finland.
Cactos Fleet Finland Ky is a ‘light green’ fund, as defined in Article 8 of the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation of the EU, which means that its investments promote environmental characteristics. The fund’s energy storage systems support charging of electric vehicles, for instance, by evening out power peaks and make it possible for locally produced renewable energy to be used more efficiently. In addition, the support to the main grid provided by the energy storage systems promotes electrification of society and makes it possible to increase the volume of renewable energy in the network. In 2023, the fund’s energy storage systems supported the main grid for more than 5000 hours, or over 60% of the time.