Switching to hydroelectricity at properties managed by OP Real Estate Asset Management alone reduces CO2 emissions by over 10,200 tonnes. Compared with traffic emissions, for example, the amount is equivalent to driving 64 million kilometres by car. Some of OP Real Estate Asset Management’s tenants also purchase renewable energy through their lessor.
“Responsibility is an important value to us at OP and we seek to promote it through actions both great and small. Switching to hydroelectricity supports sustainable development and mitigates climate change. We want to do our part in increasing the use of renewable energy in our buildings and in reducing overall carbon dioxide emissions,” says Matti Puromäki, Property Manager at OP Real Estate Asset Management Ltd.
OP Real Estate Asset Management is committed to buying renewable energy for its properties for at least four years. For the first two years, electricity will be sourced from hydropower, which will then be switched to wind power for 2022–2023. The hydroelectricity is produced by Oulun Energia at the Merikoski hydropower plant, which has an electrical output of 40 megawatts. Finland’s longest fishway, and the only fishway in the Oulujoki river, is located at the Merikoski hydropower plant. The wind power is generated at wind farms located in Finland.