Why a Central European Property Group Is Behind Finland's Largest Storage Pipeline Yet

Aurinkokarhu, the Korsholm-based Finnish developer, has formed a joint venture with Futureal Energy Partners covering a portfolio of approximately 3 GW of battery storage, solar and hybrid projects in Finland, with expansion into Sweden as the first step beyond it. Around 2 GW is storage and 1 GW solar, with roughly 1 GW expected to be construction-ready during 2026 and the remainder across 2027 and 2028. Named projects include Åback in Kristinestad and Annis in Nykarleby. Terms were not disclosed. The scale is unusual for Finland, and so is where the money comes from.

What does the joint venture hold?

The new company will develop and finance a portfolio of roughly 3 GW across battery storage, solar and hybrid configurations, with storage the current focus at around 2 GW under development and 1 GW of solar planned alongside. Approximately 1 GW is expected to reach construction readiness in 2026. The partnership's first joint transaction was financing the 124 MW Tuovila battery project in Toby, Korsholm, completed in 2025 and scheduled to begin operations next year. The stated scope also extends to data centres, which is an unusual inclusion in a storage and solar joint venture and points towards co-located load rather than pure grid supply. Terms of the joint venture were not disclosed.

How does 3 GW compare with the Finnish market?

It is larger than anything Enerdatics has recorded changing hands there. Across the 23 Finnish battery transactions logged since the start of 2024, no buyer has assembled more than three deals, and the largest accumulated position belongs to Prime Capital at 310 MW across three transactions. Alpiq Group and Nala Renewables follow at 155 MW and 300 MW respectively, with Icecreek Energy, Delta Capacity, Dovre Group, EB-SIM, FP Lux Investments, Helen and L&G NTR Clean Power Fund each holding one or two positions. Against that, a single platform targeting 2 GW of storage is roughly six times the largest recorded buyer position, and the full 3 GW portfolio close to ten times. Finnish storage has been an active market of small transactions, and this is an attempt to change the unit of scale rather than to compete within it.

Why is a real estate developer funding Finnish batteries?

Because the two businesses share more than they appear to. Futureal Energy Partners is the energy division of the Futureal Group, a Central and Eastern European property developer and investor with more than 240 projects and a portfolio valued at €6 billion. Real estate development and renewable development rest on the same core competences: assembling land, managing multi-year permitting processes, negotiating with municipalities and landowners, and financing long-dated construction against future cash flows. A group that has done that at scale across CEE property has the balance sheet and the patience that Finnish storage development requires, and the data centre element in the joint venture's scope makes the overlap explicit, since a data centre is a building with a power problem attached. Aurinkokarhu supplies what property capital cannot: local grid relationships, Finnish permitting knowledge and an existing project pipeline.

Enerdatics' data shows why that combination is being tested in Finland specifically. The Finnish market has attracted a broad but shallow buyer field, with 23 battery transactions since the start of 2024 spread across more than a dozen acquirers and almost no repeat activity beyond Prime Capital. Pricing is largely invisible, with only Alpiq's $8.04 million across 155 MW carrying any disclosed value in the slice. That combination of many buyers, small tickets and no visible benchmark is characteristic of a market where capital is available but scale is not, which is precisely the gap a 3 GW platform is designed to fill.

What does the deal signal for Nordic storage?

The deal signals that Finnish storage is moving from project-by-project transactions to platform formation, and that the capital funding it is arriving from outside the conventional infrastructure fund universe. Finland's wind-heavy, volatile power system produces the arbitrage spreads that make merchant storage viable, and the country has become a testing ground for how much of that opportunity a single developer can capture. Expect the platform model to be replicated, and expect Sweden to see the same structure applied, since the joint venture has named it as the first expansion market.

The risk sits in the same place as the opportunity. A 3 GW pipeline with 1 GW construction-ready in 2026 and the balance across 2027 and 2028 requires sustained capital deployment against a merchant revenue thesis, in a market where Enerdatics records no disclosed pricing to underwrite against. Storage in Finland earns from volatility rather than from contracted capacity payments, so the platform's returns depend on spreads persisting as more storage connects. Building at this scale is a bet that Finnish flexibility remains scarce for long enough to earn back the pipeline, which is a different proposition from buying one ready-to-build asset at a time.

Key takeaways

• Aurinkokarhu and Futureal Energy Partners formed a joint venture covering approximately 3 GW of battery storage, solar and hybrid projects in Finland, with Sweden identified as the first expansion market. Terms were not disclosed.
• The portfolio comprises roughly 2 GW of storage under development and 1 GW of solar, with about 1 GW expected to be construction-ready in 2026 and the remainder across 2027 and 2028.
• Enerdatics records 23 Finnish battery transactions since the start of 2024, with no buyer holding more than three and the largest position at 310 MW, so this platform targets roughly ten times the biggest recorded holding.
• Futureal Energy Partners is the energy division of the Futureal Group, a Central and Eastern European real estate developer with more than 240 projects and a €6 billion portfolio.
• The partnership's first joint transaction financed the 124 MW Tuovila battery project in Korsholm in 2025, which is scheduled to begin operations next year.

Frequently asked questions

How large is the Aurinkokarhu and Futureal joint venture?The joint venture covers approximately 3 GW of battery storage, solar and hybrid projects in Finland, of which around 2 GW is storage and 1 GW solar. Roughly 1 GW is expected to be ready for construction during 2026, with the remainder planned across 2027 and 2028.

Who is Futureal Energy Partners?Futureal Energy Partners is the energy division of the Futureal Group, a Central and Eastern European real estate developer and investor with more than 240 projects and a portfolio valued at €6 billion. The division handles electricity trading and energy investment development, and builds partnerships in European onshore wind, solar and storage markets.

How does Finnish battery storage earn revenue?Finnish storage operates on a largely merchant basis, charging when wind and solar output is abundant and prices are low, then discharging when demand and prices are high. Revenue therefore comes from price spreads and system services rather than from contracted capacity payments.

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