Helen automated RED III reporting for nearly 10,000 fuel loads a year

Impact

Automated regulatory compliance

Meets RED II/III and CSRD requirements with minimal manual effort.

Full supply chain traceability

Every biomass load tracked from harvest to plant across nearly 10,000 annual deliveries.

Significant time savings

Reports that once took days now generate automatically with verified data.

Accurate emissions tracking

CO2 calculations verified throughout the entire supply chain in real-time.

About Helen

Helen is Finland's leading energy company and a pioneer in the green energy transition. The company produces and distributes district heating and cooling, serving 90% of households in Helsinki, and sells electricity across the Nordic market. Helen is working towards fully carbon-neutral energy production by 2030.

1,826M€ annual turnover (2023)
~1,500 GWh of biomass-based energy produced annually
55% carbon-neutral energy already achieved
786 employees

THE CHALLENGE

Growing regulatory demands overwhelmed Helen's manual reporting capacity

When Helen commissioned the Vuosaari bioenergy plant in 2022, its biofuel use doubled. The main fuel of the plant is forest chips, a by-product of forestry. The district heating capacity of the bioenergy plant is approximately 260 MW.

The Renewable Energy Directive (RED II/III) requires Helen to prove the origin of every biomass load and demonstrate greenhouse gas emission reductions throughout the supply chain. With nearly 10,000 fuel loads arriving annually, each requiring full traceability back to the harvest point, manual data collection would be virtually impossible.

The new Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the EU taxonomy, which defines those corporate activities that count as sustainable, significantly increase the requirements for data collection and reporting. There was therefore a clear need for a solution that would ease the heavy workload and ensure data accuracy for CSRD and RED III compliance.

“Reducing carbon emissions and demonstrating the sustainability of biomass is the major thing for us. With Pinja’s solution, it is now possible to demonstrate sustainability and calculate emissions in the production chain.”

Anna HäyrinenEnvironmental Manager at Helen Oy

THE SOLUTION

Pinja’s supply chain management system for fuels with built-in sustainability reporting

Helen uses Energy Operations solution to manage the fuel supply chain at its bioenergy plants. Over the years, Helen and Pinja have developed the system to meet Helen’s needs – a significant development task was a solution that supports sustainability reporting.

The solution handles the entire supply chain, and this sustainability reporting solution helps Helen to:

ensure the sustainability of biomass used for heat production,
monitor progress towards carbon neutrality,
meet the sustainability criteria of the Renewable Energy Directive, and to
meet the requirements of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive.

little-seedling-power-plant-in-background

"Pinja’s SCM for fuel is a big and central system for us, and it improves the efficiency of reporting in many areas. It provides the data for our sustainability report quite directly, with little need for further processing."

Anna HäyrinenEnvironmental Manager at Helen Oy

THE IMPACT

From regulatory burden to competitive advantage

The solution transformed how Helen approaches sustainability reporting. Every load — nearly 10,000 per year — is now fully traceable. The system verifies sustainability criteria, tracks certification, and calculates greenhouse gas reductions automatically throughout the supply chain.

Reports that previously required days of manual work now generate with minimal effort. The accuracy and efficiency gains free up Helen's team to focus on strategic decisions rather than data collection. The system also supports fuel sourcing optimisation and long-term supply planning — turning regulatory compliance into operational intelligence.

Key impacts include:

Automated compliance with RED II/III and CSRD requirements

Complete traceability for nearly 10,000 annual biomass loads from origin place to plant

Significant time savings in monthly reporting and regulatory submissions

Verified emissions data throughout the entire supply chain

Strategic visibility supporting fuel sourcing and long-term planning

Helen automated RED III reporting for nearly 10,000 fuel loads a year

Summary

Impact

About Helen

Growing regulatory demands overwhelmed Helen's manual reporting capacity

Pinja’s supply chain management system for fuels with built-in sustainability reporting

From regulatory burden to competitive advantage

Control your energy supply chain from source to production

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